


Book One: Community

by old_and_new_friends



Series: The Candle or The Mirror [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ambushes and Sneak Attacks, Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Assassination Attempt(s), Ba Sing Se, Bisexual Male Character, Bounty Hunters, Changing Point Of View, Character Study, Colonialism, Cultural Differences, Dimension Travel, Execution, Fighting, Gay Male Character, Guerrilla Warfare, Imperialism, Implied/Referenced Sex, Kidnapping, M/M, Major Character Injury, Male Friendship, Nationalism, Order of the White Lotus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PTSD, Pai Sho, Poisoning, Queerplatonic Relationships, Racism, Southern Water Tribe, Spirit World, There Is No War In Ba Sing Se, Time Travel, Vigilantism, Violence, War, prison break - Freeform, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 118,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23207665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/old_and_new_friends/pseuds/old_and_new_friends
Summary: General Iroh started his vacation on a low note when a letter from home brings nothing but bad news. His only comforts were cabinets full of tea he’d never drink.Meanwhile across the city, Detective Mako meditates on his past, his present and his future. He’s not too sure he likes the conclusions he reaches.Eighty years in the past, Prince Lu Ten is given an ultimatum, move to the soon to be conquered city, or be removed from the line of succession. The kidnapping only added salt to the wound.Then everything went dark.The spirits have a mission for Mako and Iroh, and one split second decision will change the course of history.Iroh's world is crashing down around him, Mako has never felt more alone, and Lu Ten should have died. Three men from different times, and different back grounds have been set on the same path of destiny, one that may change them all, forever.
Relationships: Iroh & Iroh II (Avatar), Iroh & Lu Ten, Iroh II & June (Avatar), Iroh II & Zuko (Avatar), Lu Ten & Iroh II & Mako, Lu Ten/Mako
Series: The Candle or The Mirror [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668550
Comments: 211
Kudos: 212





	1. The Prince General - Iroh

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys! This is my first fanfic in this fandom! What started as a crack fic idea slowly expanded into chaos. I hope you guys like it, even with the weird premise. 
> 
> I tag as I post and WARNINGS will be at the beginning of each chapter.
> 
> Please be respectful and if it's not your cup of tea then you're free to leave (no seriously I don't do discourse and will delete any comment if I feel it is inappropriate). That being said feel free to tell me if something needs tagging.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh II makes a life changing discovery after a letter from home, he doesn't even like tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Death of a grandparent mentioned, discussion of arranged marriage, cultural identity issues, alcohol mentioned.

Iroh was glad to be home, or well, a semblance of home. While the town house he owned in Republic City was no Fire Nation Palace, it was certainly a refuge from the rest of the world. The past year, or rather past four years, had been a whirlwind of insanity as he and the rest of the United Nation’s military tried to stop Kuvira’s attempt to re-unify the United Nations with the Earth Kingdom. 

The cleanup was proving to be just as difficult between two elections, for two separate countries, and thousands of people left homeless. The only silver lining, or silver sandwich as his grandfather would say, to the whole mess was that President Moon was both nicer and more competent than President Raiko. Under President Raiko, Iroh was lucky these past few years if he managed a ten-minute break, the six months leave President Moon was allowing him would have been unheard of.

While initially resistant to the idea, Iroh eventually conceded that he was worn down to nearly nothing. Iroh’s everything was starting to hurt, on a constant basis, from not being allowed to heal fully before having to jump back into the action. He was, also, pretty sure he was starting to go prematurely grey. 

When he joked, during a family dinner in Republic City, about how his now entirely grey temples made him a silver fox at twenty-six, only his dad seemed to find it funny. His dad claimed it was normal for some people on his side of the family to go prematurely grey, such as his Aunt Kya, though apparently twenty-six was still early. His grandfather told him not to worry about it, that everyone had a few grey hairs here and there, but even he seemed concerned about Iroh’s health.

As Iroh reached the front door of his home, he felt the tension in his shoulders relax for the first time in months and had to admit once more that he probably really did need this.

With a coffee cup in one hand, an Earth Kingdom cruller in the other and mail tucked under his arm, he struggled to get his keys into the lock. Giving up on his dignity, Iroh shoved the cruller into his mouth to free up his hand, only to drop his mail on the ground as he turned the key.

Iroh groaned as he leaned down to pick his mail back up, before kicking his door open, then closed behind him. Leaning against the inside of his door, Iroh tossed his mail on the side table and grabbed what was left of his cruller from his mouth, before closing his eyes and sliding to the floor.

Today, despite being the first day of his leave was not calming in the slightest. Upon arrival in Republic City Harbor, Iroh had been taken hostage by a Fire Nation embassy worker who dragged Iroh on a day long trip through every minor issue the embassy was facing. He didn’t know what they thought he could do about their broken tea pots and he really didn’t know what they thought he could do about the overcrowding of Fire Nation refugees, other than tell his mother about it.

He was the Crown Prince, not the Fire Lord. All he ever did was show up in places his mother couldn’t with words his mother told him to say, learn everything he’d need to be a good Fire Lord when he had the time, and not embarrass his family and people with wild news stories. Even if he did want to help the embassy, he still had to run every plan and action he had regarding the Fire Nation through his mother before he could implement them. Iroh’s powers as Crown Prince boiled down to look pretty, and don’t speak till mom says so.

The entire exercise had proven fruitless and Iroh was pretty sure he came across as a fool to everyone working in the embassy. The only thing anyone gained from it had been Iroh, who got to pick up his mail from the past four months. Iroh was well aware at this point that he made a far better military General than he did the Crown Prince of his nation. He really didn’t need his failures as a prince shoved into his face like that.

Iroh finished off the last of his cruller, and was slowly sipping on his coffee, when he finally bothered to acknowledge his mail. There were a few letters from various dignitaries and friends wishing him a happy birthday from two months ago. Having been face down in a muddy ditch as he fought off a rather large militia that had formed in the collapse of Kuvira’s empire, Iroh could strongly say it wasn’t a very happy birthday at all.

The only other two letters Iroh had was a letter from his mother, or rather Fire Lord Izumi if the fancy seal was anything to go by, and one from his pen pal. Why his cousin Jinora randomly started writing to him of all people on a regular basis he wasn’t sure, but he was glad she had. This must have been the missing letter that stalled their correspondence for a month before Iroh sent a letter asking after Jinora and why she stopped writing.

Originally his little cousin wrote to him looking for advice on romance and wondering how to tell if a boy liked you. Once she realized Iroh was no help in that particular department, she moved on to other topics like politics and spirituality. Admittedly the second topic was a fun one but the first nearly had Iroh banging his head against a wall every time he got a letter. From there she launched into discussing multi-nationality which was both an interesting thing to discuss with her and a very hard thing for both of them to articulate. After their month-long gap of miscommunication Jinora completely flipped the conversation topic again, this time to the most recent trashy romance novel she was reading. 

Those letters often had Iroh correcting his younger cousin on several ideas the books put into her head. They had also caused an addiction to reading said trashy romance novels that Iroh was only willing to admit to himself and his little cousin. Iroh had also taken it upon himself to direct her reading away from the erotica she was starting to stumble towards. Iroh was fine with correcting his baby cousin on romantic notions but not so fine with correcting her on how sex works.

Iroh wasn’t sure what it said about him that his best friend in the world was his fifteen-year-old cousin. The fact was that Jinora understood, just as well as him, what it meant to have multiple cultures in your bloodline but only one which you were allowed to express due to the pressure of being a leader to your society. It was an odd relationship but one they both seemed to desperately need.

His mother would probably kill him if she knew he tossed her, official Fire Lord, important, read now, letter to the side in favor of reading Jinora’s but she wasn’t here to see him do it and the oh so important letter had been sent a day ago, so it could wait a bit longer.

Jinora’s letter was a breath of fresh air, as it usually proved to be, even with the deep topics they could sometime tread across. His little cousin’s curious energy practically flew off the page as she asked him if he ever felt like societal expectations or cultural influences from the Fire Nation separated him from parts of his other ethnicities that he might feel more attuned to. How she made questions that serious sound like a small child asking how rain worked, Iroh would never understand, but it was one of his favorite things about her.

The second half of the letter explained the shift in topic conversation for their more recent letters, as she asked him if he’d ever read “The Lovers’ Cave” a more modernized, stylized, and inaccurate portrayal of the story of Omashu. Having already answered that in his previous letter, Iroh thought more on the first topic his cousin had written about.

Jinora had quickly gained a fascination with Iroh’s cultural identity due to her own not being as much of a struggle. Her identity gained from the Water Tribes wasn’t something that contradicted her Air Nomad learnings and vice versa. Iroh on the other hand struggled between three cultures that have very contradicting natures.

Iroh often told his cousin that the Fire Nation was an unwielding beast when it came to culture. Due to what was called the Reclamation, where the Fire Nation attempted to reclaim any culture lost to one-hundred years of a totalitarian dictatorship, the Fire Nation had become overly defensive and possessive of its culture to the point of fanaticism. While this fanaticism never made its way out of the isles, it still had a great impact on those who lived on the islands with multicultural identities.

Iroh finally stood up from the floor in order to walk over to his office to reply. He knew exactly what he would tell her, even if it would be hard to express. 

_Jinora,_

_I have found the answer to our missing letter conundrum, it was sent to the embassy rather than directly to me. Given how heated our previous conversation over “The Lovers’ Cave” got, I will avoid rehashing that conversation. I am glad to hear that your family is doing well._

_As to your other question on my cultural identity, well, it’s rather complicated. As I have mentioned in the past the Fire Nation, over the past seventy-five years, has been in a state of defensiveness with reclaiming our culture and trying not to, once again, over step our position in the world. This has led to a certain resistance to other cultural influences, between wanting a pure pre-Sozin cultural identity and extreme guilt over the destruction of other cultures._

_I have often found this cultural divide nearly impossible to navigate, due to the high-profile status I hold as Crown Prince. Having spent a good twenty percent of my childhood visiting both the South Pole and Air Temple Island over the years, with my Dad and Grandfather, I have never completely been cut off from other aspects of my heritage. It was only at home where I would encounter problems._

_My earliest memory of this resistance, though rather vague around the edges, was from a few months before the death of our grandfather, Aang. I was five years old at the time and while much of the things I remember were minor, and some of it filled in based on later visits and long-standing family jokes, some of it has stuck with me even to this day._

_My father was on a rather long leave and was requested by his mother to spend some of it in the South Pole. It wasn’t uncommon for him to bring me along on visits like this but this would be the first I could really recall with any sort of accuracy. We stayed there for two weeks and the entire time, we were fully immersed in Water Tribe culture. While I would never say such to my Nation or my mother, I felt more at home in the Southern Water Tribe than I ever had in my life, a statement I still standby to this day._

_I spent most of the visit trailing behind GranGran, and while it wouldn’t be until I was older that I would learn to cook the meals myself, I took great pride in helping her cook traditional Southern Water Tribe foods. At night, around the fire, she would tell me old stories from her childhood. I was mesmerized by tales of warriors long dead, loves that stretch from pole to pole, and a koi pond hidden in the vast Northern City. Her horror stories were the best and would eventually become my favorites, though at five they may have been a bit too much. I invaded my dad’s bed for the next three nights after she told me the story of Nini._

_In an effort to help me fight my fear, our Great Uncle Sokka taught me the finer points of hunting and fighting, to GranGran’s disapproval and my dad’s great amusement. He even allowed me to accompany him on a minor hunt and made me a necklace from the bones of the seal-lion, I graciously assisted with taking down. He promised he and dad would take me ice dodging when I came of age, but by the time I was fourteen, he had already been killed in an attack on Republic City and dad never really bothered._

_I’m sure you’ve already experienced Aunt Kya’s general brand of kindness. Her fun loving, adventurous spirit had infected me with a wanderlust I still haven’t managed to shake to this day. Every morning she would sit me down and style my hair in a different Water Tribe fashion, though usually it was some form or other of the warrior’s wolf tail. There are several pictures I keep in my home from similar trips. My favorite picture being of the time she managed to get my dad to sit still long enough to give him a matching style._

_She was also the one who first introduced me to penguin sledding, one of the few activities that even grandfather Aang wouldn’t miss out on.  
I will admit that one of my greatest regrets was not spending more time with our shared grandfather. The only bit of Air Nomad culture I picked up from him was vegetarianism and as a child, I didn’t truly know the reasoning behind it. Regardless, from what I remember, he seemed happy enough, in both memory and photographs, to no longer be the only one at the table not eating meat._

_The time spent in the South Pole, of course, eventually had to end and my dad and I made our way back to the Fire Nation. At first, no one said anything about me skipping off the boat in blue clothing made by GranGran. No one commented on the new wolf tail, even though at one-point Aunt Kya had, on request, shaved it on the side like Uncle Sokka, while my dad had been absent. No one acknowledged the bone necklace around my neck or the fact that it was a complete contradiction to the fact that I was no longer eating meat._

_Everyone seemed to be content to let it slide at first._

_However, when it became clear that it wasn’t a phase, that I wasn’t going to stop being a vegetarian, that the necklace and wolf tail were becoming permanent parts of my attire even as I went back to my Fire Nation robes, that I was determined to find an identity that allowed all three cultures to work together in the way only a child could, people started talking. Before then I had never heard the terms “Ice Savages”, or “Wolfmen” but afterwards, they were everywhere I turned in the palace. They were whispered in the halls by both servants and nobility._

_I don’t think my family really knew how best to handle the situation. My Grandfather, Fire Lord Zuko at the time, had excused himself from the entire situation by leaving the week before, when the rumors first started, for Republic City. My dad’s last night before his latest deployment was tense with unspoken words._

_My mother, eventually, decided on a course of action that has left a lasting strain on our relationship. Culture still isn’t something discussed between us anymore because of it. I woke up one morning unable to find my seal-bone necklace and my mother herself came down to help me with my hair. I remember having a quiet pride at the fact that the shaved parts of my head wouldn’t fit into the top knot. That was only the beginning._

_The hardest part was meal times, there were no vegetarian options served at breakfast, lunch or dinner. I spent the first two meals glaring across the table at my guilty looking mother. By dinner I was too hungry to fight it anymore and finally ate the food on my plate._

_I hated my mother for a long time after that and while I still, to this day, resent what she did, the return of the necklace (now hanging off of my bedpost) and the sincere apology she gave, when I shipped off for my first deployment, has bridged some of the gap. My mother, herself, never really had a personal issue with it, the real pressure was coming from society and my mother always had a fear of rocking the boat._

_Between pressure from my mother and country, I have taken my non-Fire Nation cultural practices to a more private sphere of my life. I tend to favor the saltier tastes of Water Tribe foods over the spices found more commonly in the Fire Nation, so outside of the public eye of the Fire Nation, I tend to gravitate more towards Water Tribe cuisine. When cooking for myself, those are also more often than not the meals I make for home._

_Other than those small things most of my cultural identity is made of the things I know, stories and traditions that can’t physically be taken away, even if I can’t express them outright._

Iroh paused for the first time in his writing. He felt slightly weird telling the young airbender about his disconnect with that part of his heritage but he had always regretted not asking their grandfather more about his people. Iroh regretted a lot of things regarding their grandfather, not that he could know at five that he would soon no longer be around. 

Iroh didn’t meet his Uncle Tenzin until he was fifteen himself and by then, the curiosity had been well and truly squashed by everyone, including his dad, who had his own issues with multi-nationality and being a non-bender. Iroh contemplated including his slightly bitter feelings that his dad, now fully immersed in Air Nomad culture, still didn’t seem to want to allow Iroh the connection, but decided that maybe that drama was better left with him and his dad only.

In the end he decided to leave most of those feelings out.

_I am sorry to say that I have never really been able to gain a strong grasp of the Air Nomad side of our family. Between our grandfather dying young and my dad more attuned to his Water Tribe side of the family, there was never really an opportunity but if you were willing, I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter._

_All this being said I do not wish for you to get the wrong idea about the Fire Nation, our culture is deeply tied to self-expression and exploring passions. For the most part they allow room for individualization provided it fits within the broad concepts of Fire Nation culture. They just tend to hold their royal family to different, more extreme, standards._

_I hope this sufficiently answered your original question._

_Tell my dad I said hi, his confusion on the matter will be hilarious and please do share his reaction in your next letter._

_Best,_

_Iroh_

When Iroh finished he looked down at his letter in surprise. The words had been written with a frenzy Iroh didn’t know himself capable of. For a moment he wondered if he should even send this to Jinora, before recalling the letter an eleven-year-old Jinora had written to him about the pain of getting her air mastery tattoos and called it even. They were both rather bad about oversharing. 

With that settled, Iroh finally acknowledged his mother’s letter. Unlike Jinora’s letter, and even those from his friends, this letter had Crown Prince Iroh II, written on the front.

Iroh really hated the numeral that followed behind his name. Many of his friends seemed to have picked up on it and didn’t bother using it when writing him but without fail a letter from home included that one minor detail. It wasn’t a hatred for his name, or even hatred for the man he was named after, so much as it was a hatred for the expectations people had of him for being the second Iroh. Becoming a General had not helped matters but it allowed Iroh greater freedoms than found in the Fire Nation, so he supposed he could bare that single comparison. It was the only one that was actually true, after all.

Iroh shook himself as he broke the official Fire Nation Royal seal, he was making a big deal out of nothing again. It was just a name. He shouldn’t let it define him, now if only other people would do the same, maybe that would be more than just a platitude he told himself.

He was surprised at the length of the letter. It was way shorter than his mother’s typical long-winded letters, not that Iroh had any room to talk.

Iroh should have known the letter was serious when the typical grandiose greetings of a royal letter were missing. His mother instead launched directly into her reasons for writing.

_My dearest son, Iroh II,_

_I hope this letter finds you well, as the new I wish to share may be suspiring. I will not bother with beating around the bush._

_I feel it is time I step down from the throne. In recent years, the world has adapted and changed in ways I feel I am no longer suited to handle. I have made several comments over the past year that have cause offense within the newer political sphere, offense the Fire Nation does not need directed our way. With this in mind I have informed President Moon that your six-month leave will now be a slow retirement as you return home to take up the title of Fire Lord. Your coronation will be in eight months’ time._

Iroh’s stomach clinched. He didn’t want to be Fire Lord, not yet, and truthfully not ever. The title had been hanging over his head for years but it was only now that reality hit him. He would have to leave the United Nations military. He would have to return home and stay there.

Ever since he was a child, Iroh possessed a very strong wanderlust and the idea of having to stay put in the palace for the rest of his life, had his head spinning. He didn’t think he could do it. In the back of his mind Iroh had always hoped his sister, who had names picked out for at least ten kids, would have children of age when his mother stepped down. That maybe they could take the throne instead. Honestly, if Iroh didn’t think it would cause extreme dissent in the country he would step down and let his sister have the throne.

Iroh had always been a more selfish individual, than his sister. He desired nothing more than to travel the world and only settle when he got too old to walk any further. His sister on the other hand was the perfect example of how royalty should present themselves. Ursa was far better at politics and court affairs than he was. She carried herself like a princess and held a grace and dignity that Iroh could only pretend at. She was a kind hearted person who the people truly loved while Iroh was nearly positive the people only tolerated him. Maybe his mother could be convinced to crown her instead anyway.

Iroh turned back to the rest of his mother’s letter hoping that would be the worst of the news.

_With this in mind I know it may be hard to accept but an heir will need to be produced at some point. You know as well as I do that while our Nation may accept many different sexualities, the Royal family has always been held to different standards. Please do not assume I love you less for your sexuality my dear son, but we cannot afford any more missteps at this time. I have procured an engagement with a young woman named Jasmine, you may recall her as General Hu’s daughter and one of Ursa’s childhood friends. I apologize for not informing you sooner but you may recall the numerous times you have dodged this very topic over the years as reasoning why._

It felt like ice had taken over Iroh’s veins, never in all his years prepping for the throne did he think his mother would arrange a marriage for him. He had always assumed the conversations his mother wanted to have with him over his sexuality were more over the idea of making one of his sister’s children heir. While Iroh knew the Fire Nation wasn’t a big fan over breaking the chain of inheritance, after the last time, he never thought he would need to have a kid himself.

He didn’t even know this woman. Sure, he recalled a girl with dark brown hair trailing behind his sister but he had never even spoken to her. Now he had to marry her and have kids with her. The very thought had his stomach turning.

Iroh was currently single, and he very much wanted to stay that way. Iroh had always imagined one day finding a friend he could travel the world with. Someone who could understand the idea of close companionship without any of the awkwardness that came from something more.

There was no way he could spend the rest of his life married to a woman, or anyone for that matter, and not be miserable. He wouldn’t marry her. His Nation, his mother, could forget the idea.

Iroh, now thoroughly pissed off, turned back to the last bit of the letter. It seemed to have been written at a later date, as if his mother was interrupted while writing it.

_I know that this letter has already delivered several shocks to you but I regret there is one more bit of news I must impart to you. Your grandfather, Grandmaster Zuko of the Fire Nation, has passed away. He went to bed without dinner last night saying he felt slightly under the weather and has been bedridden all morning, by noon he was gone. The funeral will be held in a week’s time and I have already made arrangements for your return home trip. The announcement will be out hopefully after you receive this letter._

_Please know your grandfather loved you very much and would not wish us to be sad over his passing._

_All my love and hoping to see you soon,_

_Mom_

Iroh’s vision blurred as he read the last line. His breath started coming in shorter bursts. He tried tucking his head between his knees. He was shaking uncontrollably. His hands clinched in front of him.

It felt like hours. It was only minutes.

There was no way. His grandfather had always been indestructible when Iroh was growing up and even recently the man had seemed at the top of his game. Iroh felt like the ground under his feet had collapsed. His grandfather had been his everything to him, from a mentor to a friend to a father figure.

Iroh’s breathing had slowed down and at some point, his nose had started to bleed. His hands were still shaking with aftershock tremors when he reached back for the letter to made sure he was reading it right.

The words “Coronation”, “Heir”, “Engagement” and “Funeral” popped off the page as if mocking him. 

He couldn’t do it. It was too much all at once. He felt more trapped than he had ever felt in his life. The very walls of his office felt like they were closing in on him.

Feeling himself spiraling, Iroh got up to search his kitchen for something stronger than the coffee he had, before reading his mother’s letter. Having not been to his Republic City house for the past year, the cabinets proved to be rather bare. All he could find was tea, gifted from his mother, from his grandfather, his friends and co-workers and even random dignitaries he’d met over the years, stock piled away in a cabinet he never really used. Iroh didn’t even like tea.

Jerking back from the cabinet in disgust, Iroh felt a dizziness come over him and slowly slipped to the ground as he blacked out.


	2. The Dedicated Detective - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako learns just how hard growing up, and growing apart, can be but, sometimes, its about what's best for you in the long run, even if it hurts now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Parent deaths mentioned, loneliness

It was eight at night and Mako was still hidden away in his office. The case he was flipping through wasn’t too important but it was something to do, something to distract him. People were going missing around the spirit portal. They would then reappear a few months later with no memory of the incident or the few days prior to their disappearances. Mako sort of envied them. He would love to forget the last few days, even weeks of his life.

No one had gotten hurt, so far, so the case remined low priority. Still, it was an inconvenience so Chief Beifong had handed it off to him. He wrote it off as a semi-vengeful or prankster spirit and resolved to tell Korra about it.

The only issue was that he resolved to tell Korra about it a week ago and still hasn’t worked up the nerve. He could admit to himself at this point that he had been avoiding both Korra and Asami since their engagement announcement. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy for them, it was just, still painful, even if it’s been four years since Korra and him broke up. 

He knew, logically, that the two of them weren’t good for each other. That at the end of the day Mako hid too much and Korra over reacted to things when she lacked information. This led to major miscommunication between the two of them, that often led to huge blow ups. Mako’s old desk, now owned by a poor unfortunate newbie, still had a dent in it from when Korra had launched it across the precinct, after he reported her to Raiko in an attempt to stop her reckless actions. Korra and Asami on the other hand fit well together, at least as far as communication went.

That being said, having Korra around again, often made him forget the things he had learned about himself over their three years of separation. That he preferred a gentler partner, not necessarily someone less excitable and definitely not a pushover, just someone less prone to reckless behaviors. He wanted someone who understood that sometime words failed Mako and didn’t take it as a personal attack when he couldn’t express what was going on in his head.

Instead, he remembered how much fun Korra could be, how cheerful her laugh was, how kind and understanding she could be when she put her mind to it. He recalled her headstrong stubbornness that he both admired and that constantly drove him up the wall, as well as her strength, both spiritual and physical. Even her temper was charming in its own way.

He still wasn’t sure he wanted to attend their wedding. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to. He thinks some part of him will always be in love with Korra, he just wishes it wasn’t such a painful part of him.

Mako wonders sometimes if he wouldn’t have been better off keeping his distance from Korra after they stopped Kuvira. Recent events with the rest of Team Avatar have only made this thought even more common.

A knock on his office door jerked him from his thoughts, as he turned to face the only other person from dayshift in the precinct this late at night.  
Chief Lin Beifong stood at the door to his office with an unamused look on her face. 

“You know, Kid,” she said, walking into the room and sitting at the seat opposite to his, “When I gave you that case it was supposed to be busy work, not waste away your life in your office work.”

Mako didn’t reply, though he did feel his face warm up, as his boss continued to stare him down. He turned his face towards his desk, no longer able to look her in the eye.

Eventually she sighed, her face softening, as much as it ever did. “Come on, Kid, talk to me here. You’ve closed three cases in the last week alone, you’ve filed all your paperwork within hours of being handed it and you’ve managed to keep Wu occupied since he decided to move to the city but you expect me to believe that a case of not so missing people, is stumping you? You’ve been the most productive I’ve ever seen you Mako, what gives?”

Mako narrowed his eyes at his desk. “One would think as my boss, you would want me at my most productive,” Mako said, rather than answering her question. He didn’t want to talk about it.

Lin rolled her eyes. “As your friend, I’d like to know why you’re working yourself into the ground,” she countered.

“Are we friends?” Mako asked. He knew it was a cruel question the second it came out of his mouth but once again his childhood defense mechanisms were rearing their ugly heads, telling him to push everyone away.

Lin stood up, her seat sliding back from the force till it hit the wall. “Watch it Kid,” she said leaning across his desk. “You can play the big bad kid on the block who doesn’t need anyone, all you want to everyone else but don’t think for a second that game is going to work with me. If I think for one second, you’ve become a liability, that you’re no longer able to be trusted in the field due to lack of sleep or emotional distress, I will bench you. So, what’s it going to be?”

Mako felt his lower lip tremble. He bit down on it till he tasted blood.

Lin stood back up to give him more space as a she finally revealed why she was pushing so hard. “Please, Kid,” she begged, “I don’t want to watch you become like me.”

It was out of character enough that Mako finally looked back up at her. She had an uncharacteristically vulnerable look on her face. Mako clinched his jaw before nodding. If Lin Beifong could let herself be vulnerable in this moment, then so could he.

He opened his mouth to answer before shutting it with a frown. Mako had no clue how to express what was going on in his head right now. He wasn’t even fully sure what was really bothering him anymore, he just knew there was a nagging need in the back of his mind to be useful.

“I don’t know,” Mako finally replied. It was the truth, even if it didn’t help either of them.

“You don’t know?” Lin asked. She seemed surprised, as if that wasn’t an answer she was expecting.

“Yeah,” Mako said leaning back in his seat. Even telling Chief that much had made him feel a bit lighter.

Lin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Where’s Kya when you need her,” she muttered under her breath before focusing back on Mako.

“Alright, so we don’t know what’s wrong. What do we know?” She asked. If you can’t find the obvious answer, put the facts on the table and connect the dots. Mako wasn’t sure how he felt being treated like a case but it was Lin, so he’d let it slide.

Mako was silent for a moment as he contemplated the question. Korra and Asmai’s wedding invitation had thrown him into a tailspin but it wasn’t the entirety of his issues. Mako could admit that he has been acting weird, if not as extreme, well before the announcement in his mail slot.

Wu was another one of his problems. The former King seemed to stick to Mako’s side like glue, always wanting to do something or go somewhere. It wasn’t the attention from Wu that Mako found annoying. Over the past year Mako had the pleasure of watching Wu grow into an actually decent human, someone Mako really didn’t mind spending time with.

No, Mako’s real frustrations with Wu stemmed from the same place as his frustrations with Korra. Mako, somehow, some way, actually ended up liking Wu, a lot. Over time Wu grew on him like a fungus. A fungus that he didn’t mind hanging off of him, despite his resistance to touch. A fungus that turned out to be surprisingly sweet when the mood struck him. A fungus that didn’t mind Mako’s inability to form words because he could talk enough for the both of them. A fungus that was moderately attractive when the obnoxious personality disappeared.

The problem was, Wu wasn’t very clear on his own feelings and it left Mako feeling adrift at sea. Somedays Wu acted like Mako was the reason the sun came up. He would hang off Mako and smile in a way that left Mako’s heart racing so fast, he felt like it was trying to escape his chest. Other days, Wu would walk off with whatever shiny new toy caught his attention, forgetting Mako had even been standing next to him. It hurt. The hot and cold attitude Wu had towards him hurt a lot and Mako dearly hoped he never made Korra or Asami feel that way.

He may own one or both of them an apology.

His biggest problem, however, was his own brother. Bolin was, despite initially not being very fond of his new job, really making a name for himself in the political sphere. While he had originally started out as President Moon’s assistant, Bolin had apparently shown enough political aptitude that she soon made him one of her advisors.

Bolin’s sweet and excitable spirit, combined with his big heart, managed to grab the attention of Republic City’s younger voters. With President Moon’s idea to create a representative council made up people from the various districts within the United Republic, it would only be a matter of time before Bolin got dragged even higher up the political ladder.

Mako was proud of his brother but, while he would never wish those days of hunger and fear on them again, he missed the closeness the two of them had before they got dragged into Avatar business. Mako didn’t really get to see his brother that often anymore, even when he wasn’t avoiding him.

They haven’t lived together for years but suddenly Mako missed the crappy one-bedroom apartments they could occasionally afford. He missed his brother’s snoring and his obnoxious singing in the shower. He missed having to kick his brother’s clothes out of his way as he walked across a room. What he really missed was having his brother around, having someone else alive and breathing in the house.

Mako missed being needed.

He missed being needed by Korra. He missed being needed by Wu. He desperately missed being needed by his brother.

Being needed meant you weren’t alone and Mako hated being alone.

At some point, while Mako was gathering his thoughts, Lin had leaned back in her chair and slung her feet up on the desk. She had a resigned look on her face, as if she only just now realized, what kind of trauma she was getting herself into.

However, when Mako started to vocalize his thoughts, she was attentive. She listened to every detail he shared as if it would be the one that could crack the case wide open.

“I guess I’ve been throwing myself into my job so much because it’s the one place I do still feel needed. It gives me a purpose,” Mako said. He trailed off into silence as he ran out of the words and energy to say what he needed to.

Lin pursed her lips for a moment before sighing. “You don’t do anything by halves, do you, Kid?” she asked.

Mako laughed. He was surprised to hear how shaky it was. “Can’t on the streets, doing things by half there will get you dead in a back ally.” Mako replied before cringing. That probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear right now.

Lin shook her head, as if to wave Mako’s attempted deflection away. “Look, Kid, Mako, your friends may not need you but they do still want you, your brother still wants you around, the entire city still wants you around, you’re their best detective. I still want you around, myself.” She emphasized this point by looking him in the eyes. “Someone gaining a sense of independence may mean they don’t still need you but it doesn’t mean they no longer want you around. It just means they have the ability to survive without you, yet choose to stay by you anyway.”

Lin rounded Mako’s desk and rested her hand on his back. Mako was surprised to find he didn’t feel the need to remove a touch he hadn’t initiated. Lin squeezed down as she said, “Regardless of whether they need you or not, no one wants you run down and tired. A sense of purpose won’t keep you going forever, trust me.”  
Lin gave Mako one of her rare smiles and Mako smiled weakly back.

“Now,” Lin said, walking towards his office door, “as your boss, I need you at your best. So, go home. Leave this file here and sometime tomorrow you better call Korra about it. Take a bath, drink a few spirits to lighten up, read a book if you’re feeling adventurous and go to sleep. I don’t want to see you here until after lunch, understand?”

Mako nodded. He was too tired and drained to argue. He flipped the file shut and stood, gesturing for Lin to walk out the door before him. He locked up his office and followed Lin out into the night of the city. On the steps of the precinct the two finally parted ways.

Mako wasn’t paying too much attention to where he was walking, which was why he ended up halfway to his brother’s apartment before realizing he was walking in the opposite direction he needed to be. 

For a moment, Mako contemplated just continuing on towards his brother’s apartment and asking if he could crash on the couch but then he recalled his brother mentioning Opal’s return to the city. She would have arrived three days ago and she was staying for a month. Mako had little doubt that she was staying with Bolin and decided not to intrude on the, newly reunited, couple. 

Instead, he cut through an alleyway that would lead him back towards his own apartment. Mako was surprised it took him so long to realize he was heading in the wrong direction. In recent years, Mako’s little brother had always had more money than Mako himself did, what with the pay from Varrick’s movers and his current political gig. As a result, Mako lived in a slightly sketchier part of town but not nearly as sketchy as what they used to live in. The buildings in Mako’s area were run down but well cared for and Mako’s own apartment building had a relatively good view, so he couldn’t say he was too upset about it. The growing difference of their lifestyles was small now but it was growing bigger every time Mako turned around.

Mako reached his apartment at about ten and despite Lin’s advice of a bath and alcohol, he just ended up collapsing on his couch. He didn’t sleep.  
Instead, Mako’s brain kept cycling his conversation with Lin over and over in his mind. Lin treated his behavior like a case and if Mako did the same, well something wasn’t adding up. Mako still felt like there was something bothering him that he couldn’t quite make shape of.

Mako knew his dependency on other people needing him wasn’t a good thing but it was a deep-seated issue that stretched back to his and Bolin’s childhood. A time he really didn’t feel like rehashing. He tried hard to break his dependencies but just when they got far enough away to snap, Mako would pull them back in, much like he did with Korra and Bolin.

Mako felt like a lightbulb lit over his head. That was his real issue. He didn’t have control anymore. He didn’t have control over anything anymore. The rest of his friends were moving on with their lives at a rate Mako wasn’t keeping pace with. He could feel his dependencies snapping with no way to pull them back.

Mako was stagnating while everyone around him kept moving on to bigger and better things. It made Mako’s heart race thinking about it, which was when he realized, he didn’t really mind being stagnate. The idea of trying to keep pace with Korra or Wu or even Bolin, made Mako tired even thinking of it. Mako wasn’t made for bigger and better, or rather he wasn’t made for the quick and rapid pace that came with bigger and better.

Mako felt like he finally stumbled onto the real issue. If his friends were moving on at a pace Mako couldn’t and didn’t want to keep up with, where did that leave him?

Lonely. It left Mako feeling extremely lonely. 

Then again, maybe that loneliness was self-inflicted, after all Mako was the one avoiding people. Though, they weren’t exactly proving hard to avoid, as a matter of fact all Mako had to do was go to work and stay there. No one, other than Wu, had invited Mako anywhere since Korra called on them to help with the remains of the Earth Empire. That wasn’t exactly a friendly checkup either. 

Mako stared at the celling as his thoughts worked themselves in circles. He slammed his fist on the coffee table before standing up. He pushed open the widows of his apartment and shoved his furniture out of the way, till there was a clear space on the floor. He then placed and lit several candles in a semi-circle on the floor.

Mako didn’t meditate often. It wasn’t something he could afford to do as a child with no money and little free time. However, before his parents died it was a sort of firebender only thing he and his mom would do once a week at noon. Mako didn’t pick the practice back up, even when his did finally get the time and money, but he still meditated on occasion when he felt his anxiety taking over his life.

It wasn’t a bath or a book, but as the candles around him finally synced with the timing of his breath, Mako felt centered for the first time in weeks. Mako let his mind wander, and as it often did when he meditated, it wondered away from whatever issue he had at hand to his mom.

Naoki had been a beautiful woman, both inside and out. Mako had always been grateful that he had inherited his mom’s looks, even if it made him more androgynous looking in the face than he’d prefer. Bolin had inherited her kindness. Their mom never met a stranger and was often helping random friends, as she called them, they would pass by on the streets.

She would sing lullabies as she tucked Mako, and later Bolin, into bed. She loved to dance, often picking Mako up to swing him around the room with her. She couldn’t cook. It was something their dad often poke fun at her for but she would just laugh and reply, “That’s why I married you. So, I wouldn’t starve.”

Bolin remembered very little of their parents and Mako had always felt guilty that he could never truly share those memories with his brother. He shared what he could, stories and lullabies hummed in the darkness of a back alley or a shared bed in an orphanage they would eventually runaway from. Though, sometimes a darker part of Mako was almost glad that he got to horde those memories for himself.

Mako missed his dad. While he didn’t regret giving the scarf to his grandmother, Mako missed that too. He often used it to distance himself from people, these last few years without it left Mako feeling raw and vulnerable around the edges. However, if Mako ever had a chance to get one of his parents back, he’d pick his mom. She had been the first one killed, completely unsuspecting that the stranger on the street, a new potential friend, was going to kill her.

Mako clinched his eyes shut tighter. This wasn’t the direction he wanted his thinking to go. Mako brought his breathing back to normal and tried thinking more on what was bothering him.

Mako had abandonment issues, its wasn’t a new fact of his life, but before he had always been fearful of people leaving him because something happened to them. Now, he was learning a new fear, the fear of people leaving him because they no longer needed him.

Mako’s thoughts then fully drifted to his brother. The whole issue with Kuvira had Mako’s trust of his brother on edge, even now. It hurt a lot for his brother to leave like that, though the important part was that his brother came back. With that in mind Mako took a deep breath, the flames of the candles rising with it, and thought back on the last few weeks with a clearer mind.

Up until recently, while the two brothers no longer had nights out on the town, the two would stop for lunch or dinner nearly every other day. Something had thrown that rhythm off a week before Mako entered his self-isolation. Thinking back Mako could recall his brother mentioning things getting crazy at work, due to something about the Fire Nation and General Iroh, but Bolin wasn’t allowed to give details till it was announced. 

Mako had pushed the information away as unimportant but it was probably this that kept Bolin too busy for his usual meal meetups with Mako, not a lack of caring. Mako resolved to visit his brother in the morning to talk to him, maybe try and get back into their usual meal schedule. What Mako had originally assumed was his brother ignoring him, could have simply been a scheduling conflict that Mako made worse with his avoidance.

The deeper issue was the idea that Bolin no longer needed him but as Mako thought on it more he realized Lin was right. Bolin may not need Mako anymore and Mako should be proud of that fact. His little brother, once so traumatized as a child that he wouldn’t walk two steps away from Mako, was now self-sufficient enough that he was becoming a high-profile politician. No, Bolin didn’t need Mako anymore, but despite his new claim to fame, Bolin still wanted Mako around. That would just have to be enough.

With his thoughts on Bolin somewhat sorted, Mako moved on to Korra. Logically he already knew the answer to this problem, but logic didn’t change the way he felt. He loved Korra and he thought he could be content being around her as just a friend, but he was wrong. He didn’t want to hurt Korra, nor did he want to hurt Asami, but attending their wedding was out of the question. Remaining Korra’s friend, may still be in the cards but not until Mako really and truly figured out his shit. He couldn’t play pretend forever. From now on, their business with each other would be just that – business.

That just left Wu. Mako felt his stomach clinch at the thought of the other man. Wu made him feel slightly crazy. The former King brought a bright, if slightly obnoxious, dash of color across Mako’s grey toned world. Mako usually liked his world grey toned but Wu brought out the more adventurous side of him, much like Korra did. 

Mako usually avoided touch unless it came from his brother or he initiated it. Even then, he never really hugged people or hung off of them. It was an aversion he picked up in his childhood that never really went away. Wu, had somehow, become the exception to Mako’s rule. Mako didn’t mid the other man’s disregard for his personal space. He in fact took comfort from it in a strange way.

Mako think’s he may have fallen in love with Wu.

Which left him with the same problem he had with Korra. Mako loved being around Wu, but he didn’t think he could only be his friend, particularly not if Mako had to sit there and watch him flirt with every girl he came across.

Mako recognized a defense mechanism when he saw one, he had plenty of them himself, but Wu didn’t seem to want to let that wall down, even when Mako offered to listen. Mako wasn’t going to sit around and wait for another person, particularly not someone who still hasn’t shown outright interest in Mako, himself.  
Which meant, if Mako wanted to keep his heart in some semblance of working order, he would need to cut Wu off as well. Mako needed to stop trying to date his friends, or maybe he needed to stop befriending people he wanted to date.

Either way that left Mako with only Bolin. Well, he could probably count Opal too. Bolin and Opal. Bopal. They were that kind of couple. Maybe Mako wouldn’t count them.

Lin, his only friend was Lin, who was also his boss. Mako’s new life was starting to look painfully sad.

Mako stayed on the floor for a few more minutes, after he came to his final decisions regarding the issues he’d been facing, the past few weeks. He wondered for a moment if this wasn’t part of growing up, this painfully slow shift in friendship dynamics.

Mako wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He was worried, what with backing off from his friendships for a bit, that he would fall back into the lonely funk he still hadn’t completely worked himself out of. Would he make new friends in the months and years to come, or would he block himself off like Lin feared he would? Mako had never really formed close bonds with his coworkers, he wondered now if that was a mistake.

With that thought, a final bit of clarity clicked into place for Mako. He spent so long being a kid playing adult that he really didn’t know how to be an actual adult. Mako wasn’t sure what to do with that new concept.

Mako finally got up from his spot on the floor, making a vow to himself that he would meditate more often, to keep his head from getting that screwed up ever again. He stretched to his full height, glancing at the clock on the wall, surprised to find it slightly past midnight.

He picked up the candles and stored them back on the bookshelf he pulled them from. With the floor clean he was able to pull the furniture back into order and finally made his way over to the windows to shut them. As he closed the last window, Mako looked out over the city. His apartment, despite being on a more low-end side of the city, had a surprisingly nice view of the high-class Fire Nation district known as Little Embers. Mako could see the lights on in one of the townhouses on the very edge of Little Embers and wondered what other poor lost soul could possibly be awake at this hour with him.

As Mako turned away from the window, he felt a dizzy spell come over him and realized he had not eaten anything since breakfast. Mako blacked out, the last thing he could recall being hitting the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A N: None of these characters are doing what I want. First Iroh demands asexuality (and maybe aro, he's still figuring it out), which good for him. Then Mako goes off script and starts talking about his mother. Tune in next Sunday for Lu Ten completely rewriting his personality from what was originally planned.


	3. The Brave Soldier - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As his father attempts to take the Impenetrable City of Ba Sing Se, Lu Ten contemplates his family, and his duty to his country. An argument with his father turns nasty but before wounds dealt can be healed, Lu Ten gets kidnapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Imperialism, Kidnapping, homophobia (?), racism (?)

When the outer wall of Ba Sing Se fell, on his birthday no less, Lu Ten had felt a rising euphoria in his stomach. His father did that, and Lu Ten was there to help.

Before his father’s siege of the Earth Kingdom City, Lu Ten had never left the Fire Nation. This was his first deployment since his two-year long, extended, military training had ended. His grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, had originally wanted to post him as an Admiral of the Navy, but Lu Ten practically begged to instead be posted as a Colonel under his father. It was a demotion, Lu Ten was well aware of that fact, but it was worth it. There would be time to rise in the ranks later, not that he really needed to, but his father’s greatest military achievement was happening now.

The Earth Kingdom was majorly different from the Fire Nation. For one, their beaches were entirely made of a soft tan sand that Lu Ten had never seen. The beaches of the fire nation were all black and grey from the volcanic activity. Lu Ten had bent down to let some run through his hands, an action that had his father’s laugher booming out as he reached up a hand to pat his, way taller, son’s shoulder. Some of the older military members found humor in watching the young Prince discover a new type of sand, while others seemed put out at his existence within the ranks.

The next thing Lu Ten realized was that the maps his father had shown him didn’t lie, when they showed the City of Ba Sing Se so large it nearly dwarfed the Fire Nation’s main island. Lu Ten had been able to see the outer wall of the city from where their troops had landed in Chameleon Bay.

It didn’t take long to march from Chameleon Bay to the outer wall, there were only a few skirmishes with the Earth Army as it attempted to halt them, each battle ending not long after they began. This was when Lu Ten learned the next two major differences. First, the Earth Kingdom was mostly sprawling farm land and woods, neither of which matched the tropics and mountains of the Fire Nation. 

Lu Ten’s father claimed there was also a desert, apparently some horrid landscape of sand and nothing else, somewhere west of them, as well as a swamp, a mucky, wet and vine covered type forest filled with monster like creatures. He’s pretty sure his father was just messing with him, though, because that second one didn’t sound real. 

The second was the heat, as a Firebender heat didn’t bother Lu Ten much, or really at all, but he had never in his life encountered a dry heat like the Earth Kingdom had. It wasn’t so much the heat that had Lu Ten nearly panting as he trailed after his generally amused father, as it was the dryness of the air. Lu Ten’s canteen was usually empty by midday, though it didn’t really matter, as his father usually looked the other way when Lu Ten attempted to steal his.

In the end, it turned out the easy march to the outer wall had been a trap, one that had General Iroh’s entire company slamming against a majority of the Earth Kingdom’s Army. The Earth Kingdom Army was under the command of General Yao, who supposedly once took down three Fire Nation battalions single handedly, or so the Earth Kingdom claimed. Lu Ten, majorly doubted that happened, but his father told him not to underestimate the man regardless. 

Lu Ten’s father persevered however, and after fifteen long months of being on Earth Kingdom soil, the wall finally gave way and General Yao surrendered. The siege was by no means over and nearly four months later Lu Ten’s father was at the end of his wits trying to get the inner wall to follow. General Yao may have surrendered but there were still several more generals to clear and none of them seemed willing to surrender themselves.

Though Lu Ten’s father seemed unwilling to admit it, Lu Ten himself was feeling rather trapped between the two walls, and had to wonder if the Earth Army didn’t have them exactly where they wanted them at this point. After all, if you can’t keep them out, might as well trap them in. An Earth Kingdom battalion stationed near Full Moon Bay was rumored to be marching East, if this was true, and they made it before the Fire Nation claimed victory over the entire city, they would be pinned down with no escape.

The fact that the inner wall was proving more well defended than the outer one, had General Iroh’s temper on a short enough fuse, even Lu Ten was avoiding his father’s gaze. Lu Ten couldn’t really blame his father either. If this invasion failed, if they did have to retreat, as was starting to look more and more likely, his father would take all the blame. General Iroh had slowly but surely worn Fire Lord Azulon down into letting him have the resources needed for the siege. Lu Ten’s father claimed he had seen in a spirit vision that he would be the one to bring the Impenetrable City to its knees.

Fire Lord Azulon had a thing for spirits and would take anything anyone said about them at face value, which was the entire reason behind his Uncle Ozai and Aunt Ursa’s marriage. Though how Uncle Ozai marrying anyone should give Azulon’s line more powerful heirs, when Lu Ten’s father was the Crown Prince, Lu Ten didn’t wish to contemplate for multiple reasons.

Lu Ten’s father often said that Fire Lord Azulon took too much guidance from the Fire Sages at face value, even going so far as to joke that his father asked them what the spirits thought he should have for breakfast. Lu Ten had laughed at the time, but now he was wondering if spirit visons and Fire Sage prophecies where worth the trouble they seemed to be causing.

If Lu Ten didn’t know his father better, he would say that the General had made his own spirit vison up to trick the Fire Lord, but no, his father had a gleam in his eyes and an assurance to his voice, as if everything was going exactly as he envisioned. Then they reached the inner wall and his father’s vision inspired confidence started faltering. Something was wrong, but no matter how much Lu Ten asked, his father would just ruffle his hair and wave him off.

Lu Ten watched as Colonel Ryo marched from his father’s tent, fire flickering around his fingers. Lu Ten made eye contact with the older man and raised his eyebrow in question. He was completely unsurprised at the sneer he got in response.

Many members of his father’s company took issue with Lu Ten’s rank. All they seemed to see was a twenty-year-old turned twenty-one-year-old, fresh off the academy, recruit. None of them seemed to think of the fact that while Lu Ten may not have any actual frontline experience, he had in fact been training for this position since birth, or well, since he was old enough to walk and read. His two-year long training also put him ahead of regular recruits. Lu Ten wasn’t just a trained soldier, he was a trained special operations soldier. Lu Ten knew his lack of experience was an issue and that he still had a lot to learn, which was another reason he asked to be put under his father, rather than straight into a leadership command.

Lu Ten waited a few more moments but when it seemed as if no one else was going to enter the tent after Colonel Ryo, Lu Ten stood up and made his way into the tent.

His father was sat at his desk, front and center in his tent, with a map spread out over the surface and a cup of tea, long gone cold, in the corner. Lu Ten took in his dad’s mused, greying hair and blood-shot eyes and knew whatever was running around his head wasn’t anything good.

General Iroh finally looked up at the entrance to his tent, clearly expecting some other subordinate coming to deliver unwanted news, if his face was anything to go by. Lu Ten smiled at his father and watched as his father’s shoulders lost some of their tension.

“Can I assume you are here as my son and not my Colonel?” His father asked, leaning back in his seat.

“Yep,” Lu Ten replied making his way further into the tent. He stopped by his father’s desk to warm his tea cup before plopping down on his Father's military cot. “Here to make sure you don’t work yourself to death, eat all your food as growing boys do, and steal one of your blankets.”

“Ah,” his father said reaching out for his re-warmed tea, “So that’s where they’ve been disappearing off to. I did wonder I how I went from having five to only two.”

Lu Ten childishly wrapped himself up in the blanket currently coving his father’s cot. He could smell the spicy cologne his father wore, a scent that never failed to relax Lu Ten. “Well, now you only have one, because this one is mine now too.” Lu Ten proclaimed.

“You’d leave a poor old man to the cold Earth Kingdom nights without a blanket?” His father asked. He pushed his lower lip out into a fake pout as he looked imploringly at Lu Ten.

Lu Ten tilted his head as if in contemplation. “Yep,” he finally said tossing a mischievous grin towards his father.

His father huffed before saying, “And here I thought I raised you better.”

“Hey,” Lu Ten shouted with fake offense. “I warmed your tea for you, didn’t I?”

“I suppose,” his father conceded. “I have something I wish to discuss with you, but it will have to wait until I finish with this.”

He gestured towards the map on his desk and silently slipped back into his work from before.

The tension returned and Lu Ten pursed his lips in frustration, but left his father to his work. His father was, usually, a rather jovial man, even at his most serious, but lately his good humor seemed a rare creature to find. Lu Ten seemed to be the only one able to pull it out of him and only in short bursts. These past few weeks his father was more prone to outbursts of anger than laughter, a side of his father Lu Ten had never learned to navigate. There had never been a need before.

Lu Ten’s childhood had been a happy, if relatively lonely, one. He was an only child raised by a single father. His mother, while not dying in child birth, had died from complications a few days later and his father never really discussed it, beyond explaining that fact. Lu Ten never had a mother, truthfully, he wasn’t even sure what she looked like due to her portraits being removed after the mourning period. Lu Ten had a father, who at one point had a wife, who had a son, but Lu Ten never had a mother.

He was fine with that. Growing up, his father made sure that Lu Ten never really felt the loss of the woman he never knew. Lu Ten grew up the center of his father’s world. His father had taken leave from his military career to raise Lu Ten, only returning to it when Lu Ten was fourteen.

At fourteen, Lu Ten had been left in the care of his aging grandfather, the Fire Lord. It was an interesting experience having the Fire Lord’s complete attention, if extremely stressful. Fire Lord Azulon demanded perfection in everything, from firebending forms to how you held your chopsticks. On the other hand, he was also where Lu Ten and his father got their more mischievous, playful sides. He wasn’t above playing the occasional prank on Lu Ten, though they always had an underlying message, usually being to pay more attention.

The only real issue Lu Ten had, being raised those last few years by his grandfather, was his hesitance to ask, the Fire Lord of all people, certain questions. If there was ever a time in his life, he had needed his father more, it would have been in the few years his father wasn’t actually around. Needless to say, puberty was not a fun time for Lu Ten. He had not only shot up about a foot in one summer when he was sixteen but also found himself following, or rather stalking, a military cadet named Zhou around the city like a lost puppy.

Lu Ten’s Aunt Ursa had quickly stepped in at that point to wrangle the wayward Prince back into some semblance of order. Lu Ten stopped following Cadet Zhou around after his Aunt explained that while same-sex attraction was no longer illegal, it still wasn’t appropriate for the royal family. She then invited Lu Ten to teach his younger cousin Zuko, seven years old at the time, some basic level firebending moves. It wasn’t until later, that Lu Ten would realize it had been a ploy to allow him to relearn the moves with his new height, in a more comfortable setting than with his grandfather breathing down his back.

Zuko, and Azula to a smaller extent, had been the saving graces of his teenage years. The two kids were near constant companions, something Lu Ten had lacked all his life beforehand. Azula, admittedly only seemed interested in what “Cousin LuLu”, as she insisted on calling him, could teach her regarding firebending and often disappeared whenever the training sessions ended. 

It wouldn’t be until she gained her own friends, that she would suddenly be interested in visiting her brother and cousin outside of firebending lessons, or rather Mai and Ty Lee were interested in visiting Zuko and Lu Ten, respectively. Lu Ten stopped spending time in the garden after that, not that it stopped Ty Lee from sneaking up on him when he least expected her. Lu Ten never thought that at eighteen he would feel the need to run whenever he saw a bubbly seven-year-old but it was, none the less, how he spent the last few months before he was sent off for training. Those girls were scary.

Zuko on the other hand, followed Lu Ten around much like Lu Ten used to follow his father around. This often led to a gangly teenager falling over an ungraceful child who was standing too close. Zuko, was arguably, Lu Ten’s best friend. His younger cousin sent him letters to the front nearly every other day, though lately he either stopped or their mail wasn’t reaching them. Both of those ideas were concerning, for very different reasons.

The only family member Lu Ten wasn’t close to was his father’s brother, Uncle Ozai. Something about the man, made Lu Ten feel extremely uncomfortable. His father usually waved Lu Ten’s concerns off, whenever he expressed them. He never really liked to hear anything bad about his brother, despite the fact that even he sometimes had odd experiences with the man. Uncle Ozai was just the kind of man that set your flight or fight response into action. He was a very quiet yet powerful man, which meant you often wouldn’t know he was coming until he was right on top of you.

He was also extremely dramatic. If Lu Ten was being completely honest that entire side of the family seemed to be overly dramatic. The theatrics of Zuko alone, could put the entirety of the Ember Island Players to shame. It couldn’t possibly be healthy for Uncle Ozai to always be playing a part and never really engaging with someone genuinely. Lu Ten’s father was either completely unaware of the acts his brother put on or very good at ignoring them because anytime Lu Ten mentioned it, he seemed confused as to what Lu Ten was referring to.

Thinking on it, that lack of genuine engagement was probably Lu Ten’s main issue with the man. Even when his father was at his worst, he was still genuine in his reactions to things. Lu Ten wasn’t sure if his father had a bone in his body that wasn’t genuine. Uncle Ozai often called it a weakness, Lu Ten usually told him to mind his own business, and Fire Lord Azulon always sent them both to their rooms for it. Lu Ten was pretty sure he won all those arguments, after all he wasn't the grown man being sent to his room.

At some point during his contemplation of his family, Lu Ten dosed off, most likely due to the warmth of the tent and the smell of the blanket. He woke to his father’s, rather interesting, singing voice.

“It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se but the girls in the city, they look so pretty,” his father sang, loudly and majorly off key, into Lu Ten’s ear.

Lu Ten could only hope the people outside the tent couldn’t hear him, that would be mortifying. Lu Ten pushed his father’s face away as he sat up. 

“What are you talking about? Ba Sing Se is right outside,” Lu Ten said with a grin.

His father hummed. “Regardless, Ba Sing Se is still known for its beautiful women,” his father implored.

Lu Ten felt his stomach drop, hoping his father wasn’t going with this where he thought he was. After his conversation with his Aunt, Lu Ten had never discussed his sexuality with anyone, including his father. It was the only secret he had ever kept from him. He hoped to keep it that way forever.

“And?” Lu Ten asked. He hoped his tone came off as bored, maybe then his father would drop the subject. Lu Ten really hoped this wasn’t the topic his father wanted to discuss earlier.

His father’s blank look told Lu Ten this wasn’t something he was backing down from. “Lu, you just turned twenty-one,” his father started.

“And you gave me a wonderful birthday present,” Lu Ten interrupted, hoping to distract his father. “I really love what you’ve done with the wall.”

“And,” he continued as if Lu Ten had said nothing, “I am not getting any younger, neither is Fire Lord Azulon. I would very much like grandchildren at some point and with the City of Ba Sing Se under Fire Nation rule, I think a noble woman from the city would make a good political match. Your grandfather seemed to agree when we last spoke of it in our letters.”

Lu Ten opened his mouth to interrupt again, this time with an outright rejection, when his father placed a hand over his mouth.

“Not now, Lu Ten, let me finish,” his father said. “Obviously you would get to choose which ever noble woman took your fancy but I and Fire Lord Azulon think this is the best course of action. Until the day you would take up the throne for yourself, you and your family would live here as the Governor of New Caldera.”

Lu Ten started breathing harder and knew his father felt it too, when he finally snatched his hand away from Lu Ten’s face.

“Lu Ten?” he asked.

“I,” Lu Ten started. It came our hoarse so he cleared his voice before continuing. “I don’t want to live here. I don’t want to marry some random Earth Kingdom woman.”

His father sighed. “Lu Ten, I fear I may have coddled you too much growing up. You are going to have to accept responsibility for the throne eventually.”

Now Lu Ten was mad. He stood up throwing the blanket to the floor. “I am taking responsibility for the throne!” He shouted. “You don’t even know how much responsibility I’ve taken these past few years. What I’ve personally, had to give up for the good of our family. I know my responsibilities father, but they are hard enough to do without being forced into even more limited options. Give the governorship of New Caldera, or whatever you called it, to your brother. Let Zuko and Azula marry some random rock headed nobles.”

Lu Ten turned towards his father with his last comment only to find his father’s “General” face on.

“The Governorship of New Caldera will be the title given to the next in line to the throne behind the Crown Prince. If you want to give up that position, my dear son, then by all means do so.” His father practically threw the words out into the room. His newly found, short fused temper rearing its ugly head. It had never been addressed towards Lu Ten before.

Lu Ten clinched his fists. It was all he could do to stop the trembling building up in his arms, he was worried he’d soon start throwing sparks. His father very rarely yelled at him as a child, and never had he spoke to Lu Ten with such venom behind his words. “No, Sir,” Lu Ten replied, teeth clinched. “I would love to be the Governor of New Caldera. I’m sure a woman from Ba Sing Se would make a lovely wife. May I be excused?”

His father’s “General” façade disappeared and was replaced with a guilty expression. “Lu,” he said, reaching out to hug Lu Ten. Lu Ten allowed his father to pull him down into a hug. It was at an awkward angle, as most hugs between them were, after Lu Ten grew to nearly two feet taller than his father. “I love you very much, and I know that this will be a big transition for you but I do think it is for the best.”

Lu Ten didn’t relax into the hug. “I love you, too, and I want to make you proud. If you think this is best, then I will respect your decision,” Lu Ten said. His voice still came out monotone. Lu Ten felt numb at this point. “May I be excused?”

His father sighed before nodding. He reached down to pick up the blanket and attempted to hand it to Lu Ten, but Lu Ten was already halfway to the tent opening.

The hustle and bustle of the camp hit Lu Ten like a slap across the face. There were soldiers sitting around campfires joking, eating, telling stories and generally having a good time. There was also a nosy Captain, sitting a bit to close to his father’s tent, that gave Lu Ten a knowing look.

Lu Ten felt bile trying to work its way up his throat and took off towards his own tent. He didn’t run, royalty never ran, unless it was a real emergency, but he walked as quickly as he could get away with.

Safely tucked away in his own tent Lu Ten finally let the emotions he had pushed down, out. The first thing that hit him was panic. The idea of having to live so far away from home in this dusty, backwards, city scared him. He didn’t want to live here. It’s not even been two years and he’s already sick of the tan color of the walls and buildings. He wanted to go home.

The idea of marrying a woman had been bad enough, and something that he had already resigned himself to, but the idea of marrying some spoil of war noble brat from Ba Sing Se was a whole new level of horrifying. A Fire Nation woman was one thing, they tended to be sharper around the edges and Lu Ten could deal with someone like that. The girls of Ba Sing Se, on the other hand, may be pretty but they weren’t much else. Lu Ten might as well marry a paper doll. It would get more done.

The next thing he felt was rage. How dare his father and grandfather make this decision without him. He wasn’t a child anymore. He should be able to have some control over his life. He should be able to decide where he wants to live. He should be able to decide who he wants to marry. Then again, he’d known since he was sixteen that he would never be able to decide who he wanted to marry, not really.

It hurt.

That was what hit Lu Ten last, hurt. It hurt that his father didn’t seem to think anything of sending Lu Ten hallway across the world. It hurt that his country, his people and his family would never let him marry who he wanted. It hurt to give everything you were to something and have it, still, demand more.

Lu Ten collapsed onto his cot and buried his face into his pile of stolen blankets. They didn’t smell like his father anymore, which was the main reason Lu Ten kept stealing them.

Lu Ten’s breathing, which had become erratic during his trip to his tent, slowly calmed down. The numbness returned to Lu Ten’s body. He could feel the very last bit of the sun dip below the horizon as he fell into a deep, yet fitful sleep.

Lu Ten jolted awake several hours later. The sun had risen back into the sky while he was asleep. He looked around his tent trying to figure out what woke him when he finally registered the sounds of battle going on outside his tent. He rolled out of bed and groaned. His uniform was still on, though he had no clue where he left his helmet last night, so he marched straight out of his tent, right into chaos.

There shouldn’t be any battles going on. The Earth Army hadn’t bothered to attack the Fire Nation military since they broke through the outer wall, any battle after that was started when the Fire Nation attacked first.

Apparently, the Earth Kingdom Army decided to change that plan. Lu Ten could hear his father across the campsite yelling orders and tried to head in that direction. Before he could, someone jumped out from behind his tent.

Lu Ten stumbled back, not expecting the fire that launched towards his face. 

“What in Agni’s name are you doing?” Lu Ten shouted. “Throw that towards the enemy not me!”

“The way I see it,” the man spat, “those are one and the same.”

He launched back towards Lu Ten, and Lu Ten used his height and weight advantage to stop the man head on and swing him towards the ground. The man didn’t stay down long, launching back up to his feet and kicking out fire towards Lu Ten’s face.

Lu Ten deflected the fire but while he was distracted by the first man who attacked him, he completely missed another one coming up behind him. Lu Ten’s vision went blurry as he took a hit to the back of the head but the Dragon of the West’s son wouldn’t go down that easily. 

Lu Ten took in a deep breath but on the exhale instead of shooting fire, Lu Ten choked as a third man grabbed him around the neck. The flames, having nowhere to exit, burned the back of his throat. If Lu Ten could scream he would have, as it was Lu Ten, wasn’t even sure he’d be able to talk.

Lu Ten’s vision was getting fuzzy around the edges and that was when he realized the third man hadn’t released his neck. Lu Ten struggled, trying to move enough to breath. While he didn’t manage to release the hold on his neck, he did manage to get a better look at his third attacker. It was Colonel Ryo.

A sack was placed over his head and he could see tiny dots of light as the sun shone through the bag. The lights started swirling together.

“Don’t worry too much about your booboos, little Princess,” Colonel Ryo said, “Where you’re going, they don’t experience pain.”

Lu Ten could barely hear the man as a ringing took over his ears and he finally succumbed to darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruh, Lu Ten was supposed to be much worse than he came out. I originally had him more like Azula but this overly sheltered, guy happened instead. Talk about being bottle fed Kool-Aid, he gets worse before he gets better.
> 
> I have added a fourth book to my outline because I like torturing myself but also because it just made sense.
> 
> I have a Tumblr if anyone is interested. [ Tumblr ](https://old-and-new-friends.tumblr.com/)


	4. Spiritual Intervention - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh wakes up in the Spirit World to a familiar, yet unfamiliar face. The spirits have a mission that Iroh doesn't really want to help with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: There aren't really any in this chapter but let me know if I need to add something.
> 
> This is an exposition, info dump chapter. Full Apologies.

Iroh.

“Iroh!”

“Iroh, you need to wake up!”

Iroh was trying. His eyelids felt too heavy but he finally managed to pry them open, as the unknown voice called his name once more. His eyes couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing, everything seemed as if it was covered in a veil.

“Iroh, we will be late, if you do not get up now!”

Iroh blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear them. He sat up just in time for a small glowing creature to go flying past his face. Iroh flinched back, his response gaining laughter from whoever it was that woke him up.

“They are gentle creatures, my dear great-grandnephew,” the voice said. “I would not worry too much about them. They are simply curious.”

Iroh’s head jerked in the direction of the voice. The man sat next to him was dressed in green robes. His hair was down to his back in a braid, though it was completely missing from the top of his head. He had a kind face, with even kinder eyes. 

Iroh felt his breath catch in his throat, as he realized just who he was sitting next to.

“Uncle Iroh?” He asked softly.

The man across from him did a double take, now looking at Iroh like he was a strange creature he had found in the wild. Then again, if this was the spirit world, Iroh would be the odd man out, literally.

“You poor, child,” he said shaking his head. “You sound just like your grandfather. Don’t worry too much about it, your voice will crack, eventually.”

Iroh shot the man an unamused look. “So I’ve heard, for the past six years,” he replied. He hated that he still sounded like a sixteen-year-old at twenty-six. He subtly tried to clear his throat before continuing. “That didn’t really answer my question though.”

The man hummed to himself as he stood and Iroh resigned himself to not getting an answer any time soon. He didn’t really need one, he knew exactly who was across from him. The very same man he was named after. Iroh wasn’t sure how he felt about that, at the very least there was no tea around.

“We have an appointment to get to, if you will,” the man said, gesturing for Iroh to take the lead.

Iroh took a few steps forward before turning back towards the other man with a sheepish expression. “I don’t know where I am, or where I am supposed to be going,” Iroh said, pausing a moment before adding. “I also don’t know what meeting you are talking about.”

The man shook his head. “Yes, much like your grandfather, always charging ahead with little planning.”

Iroh frowned. That was the second mention of his grandfather in the past five minutes. His unprompted nap had nearly made him forget the contents of his mother’s letter but now it came back to him. He felt slightly sick but pushed the feeling down. He would deal with it later, not in front of a man he barely knew. 

“What works, works,” Iroh said defensively. He wasn’t going to be used as an insult to his grandfather, regardless of who was doing the insulting.

“Ah,” the man said, “But does it always work? I did not mean it as an insult, working on instinct certainly has its place, but if one relies on it all the time, they will find themselves in some very shocking situations.”

The word choice seemed deliberate. He wondered, for a moment, if the old man somehow knew about that time Iroh went charging into an electrified fence during the fight with Amon.

“So, what’s this meeting and where do I need to go?” Iroh asked again, trying to change the subject.

The old man gave him a knowing look but dropped the matter in favor of, finally, answering Iroh’s question. “A meeting that has been long overdue, or is perhaps right on time. You will find it by walking.”

Iroh stared at the man in disbelief. He couldn’t be serious.

“That tells me exactly nothing,” Iroh replied, turning away from the man in frustration. His grandfather often told him that his Uncle spoke only in riddles and proverbs but Iroh didn’t understand till now just how frustrating that must have been. 

“Which direction do I need to walk in?” Iroh asked. He took a deep breath in an attempt to reign in his temper. The old man seemed really proud of that. Iroh had a few guesses as to what that was about. Even tempered by old age, his grandfather could lose his patience and yell with the best of them.

“Really?” the old man asked. “I’m quite sure that tells you everything you need to know. As for which direction you need to walk in, well, it is your meeting, you should know.”

Iroh sighed, giving up on the conversation and turned back to walk in the direction he had originally picked. If it was his meeting and he knew where it was, then acting on instinct would have to be enough. Iroh kept glancing back to make sure the man was still behind him. He hoped his great-granduncle wouldn’t actually let him walk in the wrong direction. 

Eventually, the man started humming an old folk song as they continued to walk. Iroh slowed his pace to allow the older man to catch up to him. He fiddled with his hands before the silence started to get to him. Iroh side eyed the man for a second, debating whether he really wanted to start another conversation with him.

“So, did you really invent bubble tea or was grandfather,” Iroh’s breath hitched on the word, “just pulling my leg about that?”

“I did,” the man replied, finally confirming his identity. “Though if I recall correctly neither of your grandfather’s were particular fans of the drink.”

“Really,” Iroh asked, tilting his head in curiosity. “Weird, it’s all the craze in Republic City now.”

Iroh, personally, also hated the drink but he wasn’t going to tell this particular man that.

The old man, it still felt weird for Iroh to call him by his own name, or well he supposed it was actually the old man’s name first, smiled a toothy grin. “I knew I was simply ahead of my time!” he exclaimed, clapping Iroh on the back.

Iroh laughed. “Just by seventy something years,” he replied.

The other man hummed. “And you?” He asked. “Do you find it, ah, all the craze?”

Iroh snorted at the old man’s attempt at modern slang. “Ah,” Iroh said rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s not really my preferred drink. Jinora likes it but Ikki says drinks shouldn’t have a texture, at least that’s what Jinora said.”

Iroh hoped throwing out facts about his cousins might distract his great-granduncle from asking him more about tea.

The older Iroh nodded. “I see,” he said. “Then what would be your preferred drink, young man?”

Iroh sighed and gave up. “Coffee,” he replied. “I don’t really like tea.”

The other man nodded before stopping Iroh by grabbing his shoulder. Iroh turned to him and was surprised to find the old man staring intensely at him. He looked slightly pained. Before Iroh could ask what he wanted, the old man pulled him down into a hug.

Iroh, surprised, returned the hug. The old man squeezed tighter before pulling back and looking Iroh in the eyes.

“You seem a very good man, Iroh,” he said. “I am very proud to share my name with you. You do not have anything to live up to. You are a far better man than I ever was at your age and you will grow into an even better one. Do not forget that, it’s more important than any cup of tea.”

Iroh’s eyes went wide but he nodded. The older man looked at him for a while longer before releasing him and continuing to walk down the path Iroh had originally chosen.

Iroh tried to follow him but tripped over a root, no not a root, roots didn’t hold people’s legs hostage. Laughter came from the direction of a mushroom off to his left but Iroh barely had time to wrap his mind around that, before he was yanked upside down by whatever was around his foot.

As Iroh was lifted higher and higher into sky, his great-granduncle called out to him, “Your grandfathers both wish you well. Please take care of him.”

Iroh didn’t have time to wonder what he meant by that, as the vine thing continued to pull him higher. Iroh looked down for a moment and had to marvel at the beauty of the spirit world, kidnapping fauna aside, it really was something. Iroh just wished he could see it from a view that wasn’t upside down.

When Iroh had first discovered that fire propulsion could be used to fly, or fall with style as his dad put it, his great-aunt Azula warned him not to fly too far past the clouds. Air became dangerously thin and without proper breath, his fire could go out. So, it was no surprise when he cried out upon hitting the cloud bank. Of course, this was the spirit world and things like breathing apparently didn’t matter, either that or air quality was the same everywhere, because Iroh was still able to breath.

Instead of looking down on the spirit world beneath a cloud, Iroh was looking down at a field of grass. In confusion, he took in more of his surroundings and noticed that the vine around his leg was attached to a tree that towered high above the ground, or was it the sky?

Regardless, the vine finally dropped Iroh, who had a moment of panic thinking he was about to go plummeting through the grass back down to the actual ground. He, luckily just hit the grass covered field.

“General Iroh?” called a voice to his right, it sounded slightly familiar.

Iroh leaned up, from where he had landed on his back, and turned towards the voice. Of all the people to randomly meet in the spirit world, Avatar Korra’s friend, Detective Mako, was not it.

Iroh tilted his head. “Detective Mako, what are you doing here?” he asked.

The detective shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure, I woke up somewhere in the spirit world and Bum-Ju, er, a dragonfly bunny spirit, brought me here.”

“Bum-Ju?” Iroh asked, looking around for his dad’s little spirit friend.

“Long story,” Detective Mako said, before offering Iroh a hand up.

Iroh went to ask the detective if he knew anything about who may have brought them here, when the valley they had been delivered to started to glow with light. The light grew to a strength and intensity that forced Iroh to cover his eyes.

The light disappeared and the only thing left in the valley was Iroh, Detective Mako and a small firemander. Small wingless, fire breathing, lizards that roamed the Fire Nation countryside, firemanders were very distant relatives of the dragons. Iroh had wanted one as a pet when he was little but they apparently made very poor pets, due to the fact that they lit anything perceived as a threat on fire.

Iroh reached out his hand slowly towards the firemander, expecting fully to be burned a little but instead the small lizard jumped into his hand. He pulled the lizard towards his face for a better look.

“Iroh,” came a voice that sounded like it came from everywhere, yet nowhere all at once. Iroh looked over at the detective to see if he had heard the voice but he was staring at the lizard as if he’d never seen one before.

“Mako,” the voice called again. This time Detective Mako looked around as if trying to locate someone.

“I need a favor from you two,” the voice continued. This time it had a point of projection but Iroh wasn’t sure he was prepared to believe it. Long dead relative guides who confused him? Sure. Random laughing mushrooms? Alright. Getting lifted by a vine that dragged him through the clouds into a valley? Why not, nothing else made sense.

Iroh, however, was drawing the line at talking firemanders. The fact that Detective Mako was staring at the firemander as if he, too, had finally lost his mind, only made Iroh feel a bit better about the situation.

“There is not much time, and we must act quickly, or the fate of your world and many others like it may be erased from existence,” the firemander continued, seemingly ignoring Iroh and Detective Mako’s stunned disbelief.

“That lizard is talking,” Detective Mako, finally, managed to get out.

The lizard puffed up in Iroh’s hand and shot a line of fire towards the detective. “Agni,” it shouted. “I am Agni, the Great Sun Spirit.”

Iroh nearly dropped the Sun Spirit, in shock.

“Oh,” the detective replied. His voice came out slightly squeaky. “Sorry.”

The firemander, shot smoke out of his nose but surprisingly let the insult rest.

“You’re lucky I have use for you,” it said instead. “Now, as I said little time. A cosmic force is at play. A chance spirit has gone rogue and is attempting to rewrite the main timeline and force the outcome of the war into a much darker direction. It must be trapped outside of the main timeline.”

“Uh,” Iroh said, pausing when the firemander’s full attention rested on him. “What’s this about timelines?”

“I’m more curious as to what a chance spirit is and what it has to do with me,” Detective Mako said.

Iroh didn’t realize it was possible for firemanders to look that put out.

“Time is a constant force that is always moving forward.” Agni explained. “It is driven by every decision a person or spirit has made, provided they made the decision in the physical world. The spirit world is exempt from such nonsense. For every decision made, there are opposite decisions that could potentially be made but weren’t. These opposite potentials cause alternate timelines, where a decision was made differently. Each timeline must branch off from another. The main timeline, the one you two have been pulled from, is the only timeline of any real consequence. If something in that timeline does not go to plan, it causes a rippling across all timelines and could potentially destroy reality as we know it.”

“Do you follow?” Agni asked.

Detective Mako waved his hand in a so-so way, while Iroh nodded. At least he thinks he knows what that means.

“As for chance spirits, they are the spirits that control the outcome of any opportunity of chance. They are the ones charged with creating alternate timelines, they do this by choosing which chance stays with the mainline and which falls to the alternate timeline. Currently the main timeline is working its way smoothly towards your day and time, as it always will. However, a young and inexperienced chance spirit is about to cause an issue by choosing the wrong chance for the main timeline. Are you both still with me?” Agni asked.

Agni started at Detective Mako’s blank face but the detective merely raised an eyebrow at the spirit. “Yeah, a rogue chance spirit, used to make alternate timeline where fate happened differently, is going to accidentally make changes to the main timeline and needs to be stopped. What does that have to do with us though?” Detective Mako asked.

“Everything,” Agni said. “As spirits we are allowed the freedom to exist outside the control of time. Some of us, such a Tui and La, join with the physical world and become vulnerable to the demands of time. Others, such as myself, still have the power to work outside of time’s power. In other words, I am able to move not only myself through time, but also others.”

Iroh didn’t like the sound of that.

“There are ways to trap rogue chance spirits,” Agni continued. “Once a chance spirit has created an alternate timeline, they become stuck in that timeline until they break off another. Rouge chance spirits are often trapped by forcing them into a different timeline than the main timeline. This is done by forcing a time shift, something that only happens with time travel.”

Iroh, really didn’t like the sound of that. Iroh could see Detective Mako frowning out of the corner of his eye.

“Time travel is an action outside of the control of a chance spirit and if performed at the same time as a chance spirit trying to change the main timeline, or create a new timeline, will force them to shift with the timeline, regardless of their own intentions.” Agni said. “It’s been done before and with you two it will be done once again.”

“How?” Iroh asked hesitantly. He wasn’t really sure he wanted to know.

“That,” Agni said, “is simple, all you two need to do is agree to go back. From there, we, and by that, I mean myself and the other great spirits, will do all the work. Your arrival in the past will be enough to create the time shift to force the chance spirit out of the main timeline, after that you’re free to do as you please.”

Iroh had a very bad feeling about this.

“You see,” Agni said, “You will be sent back to the time where the chance spirit is meddling, which will cause a time shift. This time shift is cause by the timeline backfilling in memories pertaining to the two of you. Afterall, you cannot exist within the timeline without a history.”

“For example,” Agni continued, “you need parents, so the timeline will create them. They will not have existed physically on the earth, but memories are a powerful thing and just remembering the existence of a person is enough to make them real. These memories will be placed in, not only your minds, but the minds of anyone needed to make your backstory plausible.”

“These backfilled memories, while not actually things that happened, are remembered as things that happened and to humans, those are basically the same thing. This causes a backwards ripple in the timeline while your presence alone causes a forward ripple. With the timeline splitting off in two directions, the chance spirit will forever be stuck in the one point where the alternate timeline and main timeline meet, which is the point in time where the two of you will appear.” Agni explained.

Agni could tell he somehow lost the two of them. “Well, I supposed the dynamics of it really aren’t all that important for you to know. Neither of you will actually have to do anything other than agree to time travel, which technically, considering reality hasn’t unraveled, you already have. Time travel is strange like that.” He said.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Detective Mako yelled. “I didn’t agree to go anywhere!”

“I never said you did,” Agni countered.

Iroh felt his neck heat up as his heart started pounding faster in his chest. “I can’t just go time traveling to the past,” Iroh said. “My people need me!”

Agni tilted his lizard head to the side. “Do they?” he asked.

If Iroh wasn’t fully aware that the small creature in his hand was actually a great spirit, he would have roasted firemander in his palm. That was cruel, but, Iroh finally admitted to himself, probably true. They still had his sister and she would probably do a better job anyway. Still, it hurt to have it thrown in his face by his people’s chosen spirit.

Iroh glared at the ground instead of replying.

“Okay, then, I don’t want to know what that was about.” Detective Mako said, though he seemed to be attempting to stare a hole through Iroh’s head, before turning on the spirit himself. 

“I don’t want to go. I kind of have a life, I’d like to get back to!” The detective said.

“Do you?” Agni asked, smoke puffing out of his nostrils.

Detective Mako started sputtering before blurting out a loud, “Yes!”

Agni looked unimpressed with the detective’s outburst.

“My brother needs me,” The detective tried again.

“You’re right,” Agni replied.

Iroh watched as confusion colored the detective’s features and rendered the other man silent.

“Your brother does need you,” Agni continued. “And to be fair to Iroh, so do his people. They need you to go back and preserve their timeline or they, and you two as well, may cease to exist.”

The fight seemed to drain out of the detective. Iroh couldn’t blame him, he felt the fight drain from himself as well.

“Fine,” Detective Mako gritted out from behind clinched teeth. “I’ll go.”

Agni turned his gaze to Iroh, and all Iroh could do was nod in defeat. 

“Are there any more surprises you want to drop on us?” Iroh asked.

“Yes,” Agni said without any shame. Detective Mako groaned.

Ignoring the detective, Agni continued, “You two will need to give up your firebending.”

“What?” The incredulous comment had escaped Iroh’s mouth before he could stop it.

“You two have been chosen as champions of the greater spirits, but I am not the spirit that chose you, I am merely the one who was chosen as the messenger. When we came together, many, years ago now, to pick just who would take on this particular mission, it was not me that suggested you. I have my own champions in that timeline, and with your intervention I should gain another. In order to time travel you will need to take up your positions as champions, and in doing so you will give up your fire for a different element.” Agni explained.

Iroh wasn’t so sure he liked the sound of that. He made eye contact with Detective Mako and felt slightly reassured that at least he wasn’t the only one getting extremely nervous at this point.

“For Iroh it was La, who watched you as a child of both the islands and the artics form a deep bond with the water. As such he will gain waterbending instead. For Mako it was Oma, who not only saw a grounded and practical young boy grow into a man of great conviction but also saw a powerful relationship separated by space and time. Mako will be granted earthbending, much like his own brother.” Agni’s voice had taken on a softer tone as he said this, as if he was aware of the pain his news could bring.

Iroh, wasn’t quite sure what he felt at that news. The idea of losing his fire scared him. It was something that had been a part of him his entire life. A smaller side of Iroh, though, was extremely curious as what life as a waterbender could be like. 

Detective Mako on the other hand, knew exactly what he felt and punched the tree next to him. Mako, Iroh really couldn’t keep calling him detective after the string of cuss words he just spit out, shook out his hand from the impact.

When Mako, finally calmed down, Agni gave them another important bit of news. “The good news for you humans, and your love of free will, is that you will no longer be controlled by fate. Everyone else will play out their parts as scripted but you two will have the ability to not only break yourselves of that script but also break others from it. Should you so choose.” Agni paused here, looking deep into Iroh’s eyes. “Do be aware, however, that anything you change will have consequences and if you veer too far off course, any future knowledge you may hold will become useless.”

Iroh’s throat went dry. Agni was speaking directly to him, which made Iroh wonder if the spirit could read his mind about intentionally trying to change his grandfather’s past for hopefully the better.

“More bad news,” Agni continued, carelessly, “There cannot be two of you in a dimension so anything you feel the need to accomplish needs to be done before your actual births, and you will be born, that’s non-negotiable as far as this form of time travel is concerned. The day Crown Prince Iroh II is born, you will die. The same goes for Mako.”

Iroh’s jaw dropped slightly opened. However, on reflection he realized, that made sense, even if he didn’t like the idea. He supposed, depending on when they were being sent back, they would have enough time to accomplish at least what the spirits wanted, though Agni acted as if he also wanted something more form them than just the chance spirit nonsense.

“Why us?” Iroh finally asked. It had been bothering him this entire time but it was only now, as he wondered on Agni’s ulterior motives, that he asked.

Agni jumped from Iroh’s hands and, at first, Iroh was scared he had offended the spirit somehow with his question. Then the small little firemander, wasn’t so small anymore, instead a fully formed dragon stood before the two men. Iroh couldn’t help but think about how small Druk was in comparison to this monster of a dragon. 

“Whoa,” Mako muttered, coming to stand beside Iroh to get a better look.

“Why you?” Agni repeated, his voice now booming across the valley. “Because, you have always been destined for this trip. Tell me Iroh, what is it you want most out of your life?”

Iroh felt his palms sweat. He felt like this was a trick question. The first thing that popped into his head was to say he wanted to serve his people, but this wasn’t his mother and there was no reason to lie here. “Freedom,” Iroh said. “I want freedom. I want freedom from the Crown. I want freedom from my people. I want freedom to see the world under my own command and not the command of a foreign leader. I want the freedom to be me.”

Iroh felt like a man possessed as the words tumbled from his lips. They were true, but Iroh had never dared say them out loud. He wondered for a moment if Agni had done something to him.

“And you Mako?” Agni asked, leaning his head in closer to the two men.

Mako took a step back when Agni turned his head to face him. At first, Iroh thought Mako wasn’t going to say anything, then, in the quietest voice Iroh had ever heard from him, Mako said, “Companionship. I want people I can grow with. People who won’t grow at a pace I can’t keep up with. People who actually bother to figure out what’s going on in my head instead of writing it off as more typical behavior. I want friends again.”

Iroh wasn’t expecting that one from Mako. He absently wondered just what had happened between him and the rest of the Avatar’s team for that to be his answer.

Agni nodded his giant head. “Yes, and you will obtain those things, but only in this new timeline. That is why you were chosen. You were born to this timeline, to leave this timeline. Your destinies have always been intertwined with this new timeline, or rather someone from it. Sometimes, that’s just how fate works.”

A quiet fell over the group after Agni’s last statement. It didn’t last for long before Agni broke it once more. “We are not heartless and us Greater Spirits understand a bit more of humans than our counterparts. As such, we will give you two to share the secret with. You each get one person from this reality and you will share the one from the new timeline. You will know who the one from the other timeline is when the time is right. For now, I suggest you start writing a letter to whomever you choose from this dimension.”

Before Iroh and Mako, appeared a table with ink and paper. Mako wasted no time in writing his letter, no doubt, writing to his brother, while Iroh hesitated slightly. 

He thought of first writing to his grandfather before that familiar pain shot through his body as he remembered that was no longer an option. His next thought was for his parents, but the idea of explaining his cowardice to them made his hands sweat.

Iroh finally decided on an apology, more than an explanation, and wrote to his sister. He explained where he was going and let his frustrations with being Crown Prince flow across the page. He explained his hopes that his sister would prove a better ruler. He wished her luck and hoped that she could find it in her heart to not hate him for dropping this burden on her shoulders. 

When he signed his letter, he pretended to not see the tears in Mako’s eyes. They both sealed up their letter and turned back to the spirit.

“Give me your letter’s now,” Agni said. “There is no more time. You must leave now.”

“Is there anything else before we leave then?” Mako asked. His voice had a pleading note to it, practically begging for the answer to be no. Iroh could relate to that.

“Yes, there is one last thing,” Agni said, “I have a mission for you both, I wish for you to complete.”

“What?” Iroh asked. He was tired at this point and just wanted to leave.

“Save him,” Agni said before drawing in a huge lungful of air that ruffled the surroundings.

Iroh panicked for a moment, much like he did when his grandfather took him and his sister to the Sun Warrior’s temple, when Agni blew dragon fire towards him and Mako. It didn’t burn, of course it didn’t, instead the colors swirled around the two men in a dizzying array before picking up speed. At one point the colors started moving so fast Iroh was forced to close his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was, so far, the hardest chapter to write. This story originally started as a crack story and all of the elements of this can be found here.
> 
> I have a Tumblr if anyone is interested. [ Tumblr ](https://old-and-new-friends.tumblr.com/)


	5. Extinguished - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course the first thing Mako and Iroh II do upon arriving to the past is witness an assassination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Racism, assassination attempt, murder attempt, injuries, war

When Mako opened his eyes, it was to see a familiar wall towering above him. Of all the places he expected to appear, such as the colonies that would one day become the United Republic or the Fire Nation itself, right outside the inner wall of Ba Sing Se, wasn’t it. Mako wasn’t entirely certain, due to the missing Zoo, but the rail-line running along to the north of his current location was probably the east-west line. Then again it could be that the rail-line was to his east and this was the north-south line.

Mako felt his breath catch in his throat, never in his life had he found difficulty determining east and west. He soon realized that he didn’t even know where the sun was. Mako spun around on his heel to face where General Iroh had appeared with him. There were two bags sat at his feet, one blue, the other green, distantly Mako wondered if they were theirs.

At Mako’s abrupt movement, the General looked up from examining his new Water Tribe clothing.

“What’s wrong?” General Iroh asked, tilting his head to the side. Mako distantly noticed that his hair now fell just past his shoulders, Agni hadn’t mentioned that would change.

“Where’s the sun?” Mako questioned back with a slightly hysterical note.

“Um,” General Iroh started, before his eyes widened in realization that he could no longer feel the sun either. He looked up at the sky and Mako followed his line of sight to the giant ball of fire to their east. Mako could no longer feel a sense of warmth and comfort emitting from the sun, that subtle pulse of life that always flared in the background was gone, now all he got from looking at the sun were burned eyes.

Mako let out a deep breath as he looked down towards ground. He tried to calm his inner panic as colorful dots blurred his vision for the first time ever. When Agni said they would need to take up different elements to appease the other spirits, he had not fully realized just what that meant.

With his breathing back under control, Mako looked up just in time to dodge the comforting hand General Iroh had reached out towards him. Mako watched out of the corner of his eye as the General’s arm fell limply to his side and felt a pang of guilt that his resistance to touch had hurt yet another person’s feelings.

“This is the east-west rail-line. It runs west till it branches off either north or south onto the north-south rail-line. Avatar Aang built a zoo, well, exactly where we’re standing.” Mako said, instead of addressing his minor freak-out. “There should be a small city, or well I supposed it’s just a farmers town now, not too far south from here. We should be able to figure out when we appeared and what’s currently going on there. If that’s okay with you?”

The General was nodding along to his words but also appeared to be slightly spaced out.

“General Iroh?” Mako asked waving a hand in front of the older man’s face.

The man jerked back from the movement, reaching up for a moment as if to grab Mako’s arm. “It’s nothing,” he said. “I was just thinking about something. Heading south sounds like the best plan,” Iroh paused before continuing more hesitantly, “and don’t call me that here.”

Mako furrowed his eyebrows. “Don’t call you what? Your name?” he asked incredulously.

The General surprised Mako by rolling his eyes. “Yes, by my name,” he clarified. “Regardless of when exactly we’ve appeared, General Iroh is very much already a person and it would be very strange for someone my age to have both the same name and rank as him. During the war royal names become off limits in the Fire Nation. It was illegal to name your child such. Call me Rozin, that’s apparently my name here.”

“What?” Mako questioned.

“The backfilled memories Agni spoke about,” General Iroh explained. “My name was, is, Rozin. I was born in the Fire Nation to a Fire Nation mother and a secretly Water Tribe-Fire Nation father. My paternal grandmother apparently escaped from the Southern Raiders’ prison alongside a woman named Hama. I joined the military as a non-bender to get suspicious attention off my family and gained the rank of Captain. I retired early to return home so I could settle my family’s estate after the untimely death of my parents. I sold all of the estate before making my way to the colonies where I ran into you. Have you not looked into your new past, yet?”

Mako shook his head in the negative before thinking on what General Iroh said, as the two men started walking south. Memories he had never experienced started cropping up in his mind. His name was still Mako. He was an only child in this world. He was born to an Earth Kingdom father and a Fire Nation mother, as he had been in his real life. He grew up in the colonies before, at the age of sixteen, his parents were killed in front of him by drunk Fire Nation soldiers who felt his mother had been ruined by lowering herself to sleep with a “dirt digger”. Mako wasn’t sure if being alone but older was better or worse, than having his brother and being younger. 

The real question was why even his fake life seemed to be filled with trauma.

He thought harder on the last thing that the General had said, about meeting him, and managed to recall a very strange man wandering his home town. General Iroh, or rather Rozin, was apparently a character. Their first interaction was Mako watching as he tried to barter down a salesman into letting him buy a necklace for basically nothing. Rozin had managed to get the confused owner to give him the necklace for free with the purchase of a basic ring. The necklace had cost two gold pieces but the ring, was only four silver pieces.

As the cart owner scratched his head in confusion, Rozin had walked over to a pretty woman named Aimi, that Mako had apparently dated once. Rozin presented the necklace to Aimi before collecting a single gold and five silver pieces from her, just three silver pieces shy of the original price of the necklace. Mako continued to watch throughout the day as Rozin made way more money than he lost by simply making purchases for people. It would be another two days of watching before he would confront the man and make a supposedly lifelong friend when his only reply was “It’s easy money that comes with the benefit of being fun. I was about to get dinner, want to join me?”

“Huh,” Mako said, pulling away from the memories. “I wouldn’t have expected that type of behavior from you. You always seemed so-“

“Serious?” Iroh offered with a lopsided grin on his face. “Yeah, I am when I need to be United Republic General Iroh the Second, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation but when I’m able to just be Iroh, well, my dad is Bumi and the rest of my family isn’t much better when you get them in private.”

Mako jerked his head towards Iroh at that. “Your dad is who?” he asked incredulously.

Iroh laughed. “Bumi. My parents married young but didn’t have kids till way later in life. My dad and I developed an agreement when I joined the military alongside him: when in uniform we went by our ranks, outside of our uniforms we were free to be father and son.”

“But, but your dad left for four years to learn airbending and is still nowhere near done!” Mako exclaimed.

“Eh,” Iroh replied, “we’re a military family. It’s not uncommon for dad and I to be gone long periods of time. He’s come home every now and then over the past three years and we would meet up if the two of us happened to be in Republic City at the same time. It’s not a big deal to us anymore.”

Iroh’s voice pitched strangely on the last sentence but being well versed in family issues and repressed trauma, Mako chose not to comment. Luckily, he was spared from more awkward conversation as they had reached one of the sharper curves of the inner wall, behind which should be the farming town.

They could hear the sounds of explosives coming from not too far off but before they could run over to investigate, the sounds of a smaller struggle rounded the corner. Mako and Iroh ducked low to the wall and hoped no one would notice them behind a huge piece of the wall that had fallen off. Mako was slightly concerned about whatever had caused the piece to break off but before he could point it out, a group of men came into view.

In the front struggling like his life depended on it and shooting fire in random directions, was a man in an old style of Fire Nation armor with a sack over his head and a very large vocabulary of swear words. His voice sounded strained and Mako was surprised he could even speak. He was extremely tall, to the point where he comically towered over his kidnappers. He was followed by three men also in Fire Nation armor.

“Shut up, brat,” the man on the left said, before hitting the bound man on the back of the head. “We don’t take orders from you anymore. We are not going to allow you and your father to ruin our great nation. If the mud monkeys want help us take out a little royal trash then by all means who are we to say no.”

The other two men laughed as the bound one went rigid at the implication. Mako felt Iroh go just as rigid in his spot next to him. He whispered something under his breath, too low for Mako to hear.

“What?” Mako asked, leaning in closer to the older man.

“That’s Lu Ten,” Iroh hissed out between clinched teeth. Mako had no clue who that was but felt like mentioning it probably wasn’t a good idea, what with the murderous look that came to Iroh’s eyes. They watched with bated breath as a group of four Earth Kingdom men joined the party.

“Is this the Prince?” The one in the lead asked, straight to the point.

“Sure is,” said the Fire Nation soldier, who had spoken before. At the unamused look from the Earth Kingdom soldiers, he pulled the sack off the bound man’s head.

Mako sucked in a sharp breath. It didn’t matter if he knew who this man was or not, he was way too young to be in a situation like this. His height made him appear older but one look into his face, which was still rounded with youthfulness, and you could tell he was no older than twenty.

“You can’t do this!” The supposed Prince shouted, kicking out behind him into one of his captors’ shins. The man, rather than letting the Prince go, dropped him to the ground and slammed his foot down on the young man’s own shin. The was a sharp snap that had Iroh nearly launching over the wall piece, as the Prince screamed.

The Fire Nation men laughed as the young man collapsed to his front in the dirt. The Earth Kingdom men, while not laughing, had smirks on their faces, as the leader said, “That’s enough now. You’ve delivered the Prince to us and in good faith we will let you leave uncaptured.”

The Fire Nation men nodded before walking back around the corner, towards the dying off explosions.

With the Fire Nation soldiers out of sight, the lead Earth Kingdom soldier stepped forward and placed his boot under the downed Prince’s chin so they made eye contact. “We will try to make this as painless as possible kid. We didn’t realize just how young you were but rest assured, your death will mark a turning point in history as the day we finally strike our first blow back against the Fire Nation.”

“No,” Iroh whispered, his voice choking on the word. 

Mako watched the young man collapse back to the ground as tears finally made their way down his face. The Prince’s shoulders were shaking, whether in pain, fear, because he was crying or some combination of all three, Mako didn’t know.

The soldier walked back a few steps and, with the help of the other three, lifted several large boulders from the ground and dropped them down on top of the Prince. The four earthbenders waited a few moments but quickly ran off, when it appeared no one was moving under the rocks. The explosions from around the corner had gone completely silent.

Mako wasn’t sure which of them had moved first but they reached the pile of rubble at the same time. If you asked him how he did it, Mako wouldn’t have been able to explain, but in his panic, he managed to lift one of the boulders off the Prince without even trying. 

He’s form was extremely shaky, having never actually worked through the move before but the knowledge from these new memories, and helping his brother learn, meant he knew the forms, even if he couldn’t perform them right. Eventually he managed to free the Prince from his rocky grave, though not without nearly smashing his head open himself by dropping a boulder.

He wasn’t too sure how he felt about earthbending, it felt a bit like a fight every time he went to bend but at the same time it felt rewarding to be able to move something that wished to stay still.

Iroh hit the ground next to the Prince and looked him over. His head didn’t take too much damage, with only a small gash where it hit the ground. The main areas the boulders hit were his legs and his back.

Mako watched as Iroh took a deep breath before popping the cap off the waterskin he had at his waist. Iroh’s brows were furrowed in concentration as he slowly moved the water in a motion that reminded Mako of lightningbending. Soon the water was wrapped around his hands and started to glow like it did when Korra healed people. Iroh’s hands were shaking slightly and the water threatened to drop with every move he made, as he lowered his hands to the Prince’s back.

“I think his ribs are broken and I’m going to be honest, I’m slightly terrified to try and fix them,” Iroh said. “I don’t want to test the limits of these new memories on him.”

“Well, you’re going to have to if you want him to live,” Mako replied. Realizing that wasn’t exactly reassuring Mako tried again. “Earthbending just now felt just as natural as firebending, or well, that’s a stretch but I managed at least. I’m sure if the you from this world, Rozin or whatever, knows how to heal with waterbending, then you should be fine, but he won’t be if you don’t at least try.”

Iroh nodded as he took a deep breath and, well, Mako didn’t really know what he was doing. It looked like he was still uselessly holding his hands on the other man’s back but slowly the shaky breathing of the Prince slowed to an even, if shallow pace.

Mako really loved watching waterbenders work, the fluid motions had always mesmerized him, to the point that he often mixed them into his own firebending style. His fascination with waterbending had even helped him learn lightningbending easier. Iroh, though extremely inexperienced, seemed to suit the easy ebb and flow of waterbending. There was a calmness present to Iroh when waterbending that Mako had yet to see till now, what with Iroh’s general restless and awkward behavior. 

Mako was surprised to notice that some of the motions Iroh were making were similar to firebending motions. He’d never seen a waterbender bend like that before.  
Iroh moved his hands slowly down the Prince’s body, pausing every few minutes to presumably heal something that wasn’t right, or maybe because he didn’t know what he was doing. When he finally got to the broken tibia, he made Mako reset the leg in place before healing the bone as much as he could. Mako couldn’t really see a difference. The last bit he healed was the head gash, this was the only real external injury and Mako watched in fascination as the gash closed up. Unlike when Korra healed someone, the gash didn’t fully heal and a scab was left to scar over.

Mako’s eyes remained on Iroh when he finally pulled back from his patient. As soon as he was finished, he let the water drop to the ground, as his hands shook too much to hold on to it any longer. Mako helped Iroh back to his feet before asking, “Well, Healer Iroh, what’s the verdict?”

“Don’t call me Iroh here,” Iroh huffed. “But he should be fine. His leg isn’t perfectly healed. Even an experienced waterbender can’t heal a complete break like that in one session and I had no clue what I was doing. His ribs are also still not fully healed either. He’s going to need a place to rest.”

Mako closed his eyes with a sigh as he realized what Iroh was getting at. They would need to take the man with them. Looking at the man on the ground, Mako could only hope that he wasn’t as heavy as he looked. The Prince turned out to be a lot taller than originally thought from behind their wall piece. He easily out stripped Mako’s 6’2 and completely dwarfed Iroh’s 5’11. With the addition of their travel packs this would be interesting.

“Alright,” Mako said reaching down to pick up their newest team member, “Let’s go. There is another town at bit south-east of here that won’t take us through whatever those explosions were.”

“The Siege of Ba Sing Se,” Iroh said softly as he reached down to help him, making sure they didn’t jar any of his recent work. Mako wasn’t sure what to do with that horrifying information, so the two once again fell into an odd silence as they headed east this time.

Mako wasn’t wrong in his assessment that the young Prince would be heavier than it was worth but Iroh didn’t seem to mind the weight. At one-point during their journey, Mako had turned towards the wall to see just how far out the battle was. He could just make out pillars of smoke and a huge scar on the wall, where the Fire Nation troops slowly tried to break though the inner wall like they did with the outer one. After a while of walking they could see the town in the distance, it was just far enough out of the way to be spared from the battle and the Fire Nation’s march through the countryside.

“Look,” Mako panted. They were about a mile from the town. “I don’t know what they feed you people in the Fire Nation but this is way too much. My arms are about to give out. He’s not going to die if we put him down, right?”

Iroh laughed before helping Mako lower the other to the ground. Mako soon joined their unconscious companion by flopping down on the ground himself.

“Mostly meat,” Iroh said after a few minutes of silence, “and large servings.”

“What?” Mako asked having no clue what he was talking about.

“You asked what they feed us in the Fire Nation. It’s mostly meat, shellfish, fish, game, stuff like that. Sometimes fruit. Produces a lot of lean muscle mass which makes us look weaker than we are, if you’re not paying attention,” he clarified. “We also have larger portions cause firebenders burn though food quicker than others, but you would know that.”

Mako nodded at the random information, having forgotten he had asked and not having really expected an answer.

Iroh soon joined him on the ground after a few more minutes of hovering way to closely over Mako’s back. Mako was beginning to understand that awkwardness was just a fact of life with Iroh, which was strange as he seemed so smooth and charismatic when they first met.

It was quiet for a while after that and Mako was starting to drift between wakefulness and sleep. However, he was abruptly jerked towards wakefulness when Iroh said, “We should probably remove his armor before we get into town. The villagers might not like a Fire Nation soldier arriving, injured or not. The headpiece has to go too.”

Mako couldn’t help but stare at Iroh speechlessly for a moment.

“What?” Iroh asked, head once again titled to the side.

“Don’t you think maybe we should have done that before we even started lifting him?” Mako exclaimed.

Iroh hummed, “Yeah, that probably would have been a good idea.”

Upon reflection, Mako realized this was the exact type of stupid mistake Team Avatar made on the daily and that Iroh, despite his first impression of him, was apparently cut from the same brilliantly stupid cloth as the rest of them. Thinking of his friends sent a pang of loneliness through his body, even if the past few months had been difficult, he still hated that he left them behind, particularly his brother. A letter wasn’t enough. Mako pushed the hurt down and distracted himself by starting to remove the Prince’s body armor.

Iroh joined him and soon the Prince was stripped down to just the black under clothes. While not necessarily an Earth Kingdom style, it no longer screamed Fire Nation, which was good enough for Mako.

“What are we going to do with his armor?” Iroh asked. “If we leave it here, it may be found and who knows who might be looking for him.”

Mako shrugged his shoulders in reply before he remembered that he could just earthbend the armor underground. Mako widened his stance and pushed downward with his hands.

Nothing happened and now Iroh was staring at him in question.

Mako growled and pushed down harder. It nearly launched him into the air, either Mako was going crazy or the Earth just pushed back.

Iroh tilted his head, as a smirk stretched across his face. “Are you trying to earthbend it under ground?” He asked.

Mako grunted in response. He tried one more time to push the armor underground and this time when the earth pushed back, Mako pushed harder. He nearly fell forward as the armor finally, slowly, sank into the ground.

With the armor now gone and the sun getting lower in the sky, Mako turned back to their newest addition. The Prince looked no smaller without his armor on and after picking him back up, Mako resigned himself to the fact that the lost armor barely made a difference.

“Hey, Ir-ozin, uh, Rozin,” Mako said. “What did you say his name was again? Cause if I’m carrying his heavy ass a step further, I at least want to know that much.”

“Lu Ten,” Iroh replied, “He’s my grandfather’s cousin. Iroh the First’s only son. He was killed during the Siege of Ba Sing Se in our original time.”

Mako nearly dropped his hold on the newly dubbed Lu Ten. “Uh, should we not have saved him?” Mako asked.

Iroh hummed. “Well, Agni did say we could change what we want but to be mindful of the impact it could have. I assume it’s because future knowledge is only useful when the timeline remains relatively the same. So, I suppose it’s only a problem if his death was important,” Iroh said lightly.

Mako squinted across at Iroh. Something about the way he worded that wasn’t sitting right. “And was his death important to anything?” Mako pressed.

Iroh pursed his lips before answering. “Yeah, see when Lu Ten died it broke Great Uncle Iroh to the point that he gave up his crown and went on a yearlong spirit journey. In that time, he managed to realize the pain the war caused people, discover the White Lotus Organization and started to actively try to end the war. Once my grandfather was banished from the Fire Nation to catch the Avatar, he became the number one contributor to my grandfather’s eventual turn against Fire Lord Ozai.”

Mako did drop Lu Ten this time, luckily Iroh still had a strong enough grip on him or his leg might have broken again. Maybe that would have been a good thing, maybe they should just leave him here in these slightly charred fields, maybe they should have walked off back before they even saved him to begin with. Even as these thoughts flickered across his mind, Mako knew they were wrong. It wouldn’t have been right to let Lu Ten die but Mako can’t help but think allowing Lu Ten to return home to his father wasn’t the right thing to do either. They would just have to figure it out later.

Mako picked his side of Lu Ten back up and began walking again. He could tell Iroh was confused that he was no longer putting up a fight about it but Iroh could stay confused.

They eventually came to the town which, while weary of strangers, seemed to assume they were three young men who got too close to the fighting. It wasn’t technically wrong, so Mako and Iroh let them assume what they wanted. The small inn they were led to was kept up by a nice older couple who were willing to let the poor young men stay the first night for free and even brought up dinner for them with no extra charge. Iroh attempted to pay them once but the woman simply patted his hand and told him to take care of his friend. 

Left alone to the relative privacy of their rooms and with Lu Ten sprawled out in a heap over one of the beds, Mako finally breached the issue they now found themselves facing.

“We aren’t going to kill him,” Mako said watching most of the tension in Iroh’s shoulders release. “I’d be offended that you think I would, but I did admittedly contemplate it for a bit. However, he still can’t go home and I have no clue how to stop him from doing so.”

Iroh nodded slowly. He looked like he had an idea forming in the back of his mind, so Mako left him to it and dug into his food. It was only when the first bite of noodles passed his lips that Mako realized he had not eaten anything for the past day and a half.

When Mako’s bowl was empty and Iroh’s had started to go cold, Iroh finally gave voice to his idea. “It’s not going to be easy,” Iroh said digging into his own noodles with little care for the temperature. “But I think if we can convince Lu Ten that going back to the place where he was kidnapped and nearly assassinated is a poor idea, without first figuring out who’s behind it, then we may be able to get him to stay with us permanently.”

Mako’s eyebrows shot up. “What? How would that work?”

A grim look took over Iroh face. “Trust me, when he finds out who ordered his death, his faith in his country is going to be shaken. If I was him, I’d feel safer at the mercy of two strangers who saved my life, then back in a place that I know wants me dead. If Lu Ten returns home now, he’ll just end up dead a different way. The only thing we have to do is make him realize that. From there, hopefully he’ll help us fake his death and we can disappear. The only potential issue with this idea is that I have no clue what Lu Ten is actually like or how he would really react.”

“Well,” Mako said shrugging his shoulders, “It’s the only option we have.”

“Do you think,” Iroh started after a small period of silence, “Do you think he’s the one Agni wanted us to save? I assumed he meant Aang but Aang’s not currently in any danger.”

“Yeah,” Mako replied, “I think he is.”

It would make sense; they were dropped in a location that lead them directly to Lu Ten’s assassination and saved him before even thinking about what could go wrong. Mako just couldn’t figure out why Agni felt Lu Ten needed saving. What could Lu Ten do that wouldn’t drastically change the timeline but would still prove beneficial?

“That’s a good sign,” Iroh said, gesturing towards Lu Ten now curled on his side. “He’s moving around so he’s no longer unconscious. He should wake up by morning. We should probably sleep in shifts so that if something happens one of us is awake to deal with it.”

“Sounds good,” Mako agreed, “I’ll take first shift, you get some sleep, healing someone like that has to drain a person.”

“Would you believe me if I said it was actually kind of energizing?” Iroh said as he crawled into the other bed.

“Yeah, I might,” Mako replied before asking, “Hey, who did order Lu Ten’s assassination?”

There was no answer from Iroh and while Mako knew he wasn’t asleep already, he left it alone and blew out the last candle in the room. With the room now only lit by moonlight, Mako looked over at where Lu Ten has started to snore softly in his sleep and hoped that whatever Agni wanted him for, was something he was willing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo!
> 
> What's this? An early update? Part one of a two part double update (the other coming Sunday as planned)? But why?
> 
> IDK I'm in a good mood. I'm ahead of the game. This is the most I have ever written for a fanfiction. I've got a four day weekend coming up. I've just finished arc one of this book (titled affectionately Setting the Board) the first chapter of the next arc (Band of Brothers) is being written today! Yay!
> 
> I'm just telling you now, though Mako doesn't know it, Iroh basically healed nothing.
> 
> Serious question! Though given anyway in the tags semi-spoilers ahead:
> 
> I've been working through a few ideas in my head and after serious debate finally came to a decision.
> 
> Iroh II is (as the tags now indicate) AroAce, and is in fact going to have a queerplatonic relationship with both Lu Ten and Mako (slow burn people, slow burn on all sides). Should I tag that as a shipping relationship or leave it as it's already tagged? Keep in mind Iroh is sexually active to a point (he just has 0% sexual attraction to people and only really does it for fun or relaxation) and it will be implied that he does occasionally join them when they finally get together (not in this book and nothing explicit, I don't like writing sex scenes, but implied). He's not in a romantic relationship with either man and he would never claim to be but he has fully dedicated spending his life with these two men and they have done the same for him. He has implied sex with other people (not much, as said he's not that sexually active but he's not sex repulsed, if he finds someone interesting enough as a person he might have sex with them). I'm just not sure how to tag this particular aspect of their relationship. (Also, please keep in mind Lu Ten and Iroh II are so distantly related to one another no law on earth would define it as incest and also it's never going to be outright stated they have sex with each other, so I'm not tagging that but I will warn for it). As I said most of this isn't even in this book but for future reference.


	6. Deadman Walking - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten wakes up far away from where he remembers last being, with two very strange men he's never seen before in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: mention of rape, racism, war, Lu Ten being a generally bad person, manipulative behavior
> 
> This is part 2 of a double update. Chapter 5 was posted on Saturday make sure to read that first or you will be lost reading this chapter.
> 
> As mentioned in the warning's Lu Ten is horrible in this chapter and some to follow. He does get better but right now? YIKES.
> 
> Also Rozin=Iroh cause Lu Ten doesn't know him by any other name yet.

Lu Ten woke to an aching pain in his leg. It radiated out from his lower leg and settled into his kneecap, before working its way to his hip. It was an odd, throbbing pain he had never felt before. He attempted to stretch out his leg, which was when he noticed that he was laying on a bed, not a military cot.

He hissed through his teeth, as a sharp pain wound its way around his upper chest, when he sat up to get a better look at his surroundings. He only managed to take in that he was in some sort of room, not a tent, before someone was moving towards him. The person, just out of Lu Ten’s sight, pushed down on his shoulder in an attempt to get him to lay back down. Lu Ten resisted only long enough for his ribs to start hurting again before collapsing back to the bed.

“Careful,” the stranger said, still out of Lu Ten’s sight. “I only just healed those and they are still nowhere near fully healed. I’d give it another a few days, if you cooperate.”

Lu Ten’s mind was running slowly, so he wasn’t quite sure what the man, because it was definitely a man, even if the voice sounded a bit young, was talking about.

He turned his head to get a better look at his supposed healer and was surprised to see a man dressed in Water Tribe clothing, or well he assumed it was Water Tribe clothing, Lu Ten had never actually met a person form either tribe. Regardless, the clothing was blue with white accents, some of which looked like fur but from what creature, Lu Ten wasn’t sure. It was short sleeved, which was odd as Lu Ten was told they often wore heavy furs because it was cold where they lived. Then again, it wasn’t cold here.

Blue and purple fabric bands, with geometric patterns, wrapped around the man’s upper arms. They were placed exactly where Fire Nation citizens often wore their own red, gold or black bands, a style that was modeled after Agni Kai traditional dress. A burn mark peaked out from behind the band on his left arm.

The man was paler than Lu Ten expected from those of the Tribes, he had always been told they were darker skinned. This man wasn’t much darker than people from the Earth Kingdom and, had he been wearing green, would have blended right in, though he might stick out in the Fire Nation, no matter what he wore.

His hair was shoulder length and halfway pulled back into a short ponytail, though it wasn’t really long enough to be an actual ponytail. He had a braid on the left side tracing the edge of the part between the ponytail and what remined down. Lu Ten had never seen hair styled like that before, though his bangs, which fell to either side of his face, were styled in a popular fashion from the Fire Nation. His hair was black and shiny, more like Lu Ten’s own hair than anything found in the Earth Kingdom.

The last thing Lu Ten noticed about the man were his eyes. They were a bright reddish-gold color. They were Fire Nation eyes. 

The man seemed to be a walking contradiction.

Lu Ten was now thoroughly confused. “What?” He asked, his voice hoarse. It was slightly painful to talk. “You healed me? From what?”

The man’s eyes went wide, probably at how bad Lu Ten’s voice sounded. He reached for the bedside table and brought a glass of water to Lu Ten’s lips.

As Lu Ten drank the water slowly, the man explained, “One of your legs broke, as well as, a few of your ribs.”

Lu Ten choked on the water. The man pulled the glass away as Lu Ten tried to cough up the water. His throat was burning from the pain of coughing and his ribs felt like they were trying to escape his body.

As Lu Ten got his breathing back under control, he noticed someone shifting in the bed behind the other man. They didn’t get up but they did roll over till yellow-orange eyes stared out at him from the blankets, like a disgruntled cat.

Lu Ten turned back to the first man. “What happened?” He asked. “How did I break so much? Why does my throat feel like someone tried to shove a hot coal down it?”

The other two men looked surprised. The one on the bed finally shifted till he sat fully on the edge. With his arm no longer under the blanket, Lu Ten could see a really bad burn scar that covered his entire left arm. He was dressed in simple Earth Kingdom clothing, nothing too out of the ordinary, though the darker green, nearly black, color of his clothes weren’t exactly common from what Lu Ten had seen. He wasn’t too different from the other Earth Kingdom people he met, aside from his eyes. They too, were Fire Nation eyes.

“Ah,” the Water Tribesman said. “Well you see, we kind of saved you from an assassination attempt, or well, we actually saved you after the assassination attempt.”

It was like the man lit a fire in Lu Ten’s brain, as suddenly everything from the past two days came rushing back. His father’s ultimatum, Colonel Ryo’s attack, him burning his throat, his kidnapping and release to the Earth Kingdom soldiers, his broken leg, the rocks crushing down on him, feeling like he couldn’t breathe, a blur of green and a cold sensation rushing over his body as the world faded to black for the second time in one day.

Lu Ten’s breathing started coming out in shallow pants. He couldn’t get enough air in his lungs. It felt like he was trapped under those rock again. He almost died. They tried to kill him.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder as someone waved a hand in front of his face. He was asked a question but he couldn’t hear it over the ringing sound taking over his ears.

A hand grabbed his and pulled it up to someone’s chest. The chest moved up and down at a steady pace and Lu Ten was aware enough to copy the breaths. With his breathing back under control, he realized, with surprised, that the Earth Kingdom man was the one he was breathing with. The Water Tribesman, who Lu Ten thought was the one touching him, was actually still standing next to the bedside table with his head tilted to the side.

“You good?” the Earth Kingdom man asked. “We didn’t save you, just for you to die hyperventilating.”

Lu Ten blushed before snatching his hand back. “I’m fine,” he said, before attempting to stand. “Thank you for your assistance but I need to return to my father, now.”  
He didn’t make it further than placing his bad leg on the ground before his knee buckled and the other two men were reaching out to place him back on the bed.

The Water Tribesman tsked, before pulling water from the waterskin at his side. Lu Ten wasn’t an expert on waterbending, by any means, but he was pretty sure the water shouldn’t shake like that.

The cool sensation Lu Ten remembered, from after the rocks crushing him had been removed, returned as the man ran the water, now glowing a faint, pale blue, along Lu Ten’s right leg. The pain in his leg subsided and when the man ran it up to his chest the pain in his ribs lessened as well.

Lu Ten stared in wonder, the Water Tribesman was a waterbender and apparently, they could heal people with it. He looked at the Earth Kingdom man out of the corner of his eyes, he was most likely an earthbender, which would explain how they managed to get the rocks off of him.

“You know,” the waterbender started, “I did tell you that you would heal in a few days if you behaved. If you want to get back so bad, I wouldn’t keep trying to walk on a broken leg. We have nothing to help you stabilize it. You’re just going to have to wait it out.”

“But,” Lu Ten said, “I need to get back. I have to tell my father! Do you have any idea who I am?”

The waterbender shot him an unamused look. “I’m well aware of who you are, Prince Lu Ten and it does not change the fact that you cannot walk on that leg.” He said as he moved the water up to Lu Ten’s neck.

It was immediate relief, that nearly made Lu Ten cry, as the cold, glowing water ran over his sore throat. Lu Ten was surprised at how gentle the man was with his healing. From what he had heard, gentle wasn’t a word to describe the people from the Water Tribes.

“Look, man,” the earthbender said, from his position at a dining table set by the door. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be too excited to be getting back to the place where I nearly got killed. Those Fire Nation soldiers, that took you, are probably still wondering around whatever camp you all came from. You need more information before you go running back to anyone, with allegations of an assassination attempt.”

Lu Ten opened his mouth to argue as the waterbender finally put the water back into the waterskin.

The waterbender spoke first. “He’s right,” the man said. “If you go back now, not only would you be walking back on a broken leg but you would be walking past the very men who want you dead. Who’s to say you’d even make it to your father before they try again?”

“But,” Lu Ten said before being cut off by the earthbender.

“Just take a few days. A military company that big isn’t going anywhere fast. You can catch up to them when your leg isn’t threatening to fall off.” The man said before standing and walking over to the door. “I’m going to go tell our hosts that you’re awake and try to get you some food. I better not come back up here to find you fried my friend, got it?”

Lu Ten narrowed his eyes. “I’m not a child you know,” he spit out.

The earthbender snorted. “You’re what nineteen? Still a child to me,” he said, walking out the door.

“I’m twenty-one!” Lu Ten yelled. The only response he got was laughter from around the corner.

Lu Ten huffed. “Well, how old is he?” He demanded from the waterbender, who seemed amused at the whole display.

“He’s twenty-three,” the waterbender replied, sitting down in the earthbender’s vacated chair. “He’s just messing with you. I wouldn’t let him get to you. From what I’ve learned of him, Mako pokes everyone he meets, as a way to gage what kind of person they are. Just be lucky he’s feeling playful and not angry, because he can get mean when he wants to.”

Lu Ten hummed to himself. The earthbender’s name was Mako, then. “And you?” Lu Ten asked the other man.

“Me?” the waterbender asked. “I usually just say hi to people.”

Lu Ten’s face scrunched up with confusion. “Uh, what? I want to know your name and age.”

“Oh, I’m Rozin and I’m twenty-six,” the waterbender, Rozin, replied.

“And you’re a waterbender,” Lu Ten said. “And Mako is-?”

“An earthbender,” Rozin said, answering Lu Ten’s trialed off question.

“So, if you two are Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe, why did you save me?” Lu Ten asked. “You could have just left me to die there. Isn’t that what your people want.”

Rozin just stared at him for a moment before answering. “Mako and I aren’t just Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe, we are also Fire Nation. I want what’s best for my country, just as any Fire Nation citizen does. I don’t agree with the war, but your assassination attempt wasn’t normal. Those Fire Nation soldiers didn’t want you dead because they wanted the war ended, they wanted you dead because they didn’t want you and your father in power. That tells me it was, not only an inside job, but an inside job based on some underlying power play. Until I know what kind of powerplay, it’s best to keep to the status quo and keep the current monarchy alive.”

“But why did they want to kill me?” Lu Ten asked.

Rozin shook his head. “That’s what we need to figure out before you go barreling back into the war. Right now, you have an advantage that you would lose if you left now.” He explained.

“And what,” Lu Ten said, irritation lacing his tone, “would that be?” He was starting to get tired of this conversation. Rozin seemed to be talking in circles, stepping forward in the conversation only to step back before moving forward again. He’d already said that Lu Ten shouldn’t return to the front twice now but neither time did he fully explain why he, or Mako, thought that.

“It’s simple,” Rozin said turning to face the door as Mako returned with a steaming bowl.

Lu Ten’s stomach growled at the smell. If the sun’s position in the sky was anything to go by, its been a full sun and moon cycle since Lu Ten’s capture. He hadn’t eaten anything in nearly two full days. Mako handed the bowl and chopsticks to Lu Ten before turning a raised eyebrow to Rozin.

“A dead man can’t be assassinated,” Rozin finally said. “No one’s looking for them. No one is keeping secrets from them. The entire Fire Nation Military at the wall either thinks you’re dead or missing. Let’s keep that advantage while we have it. Once we have all the information we need then, we can figure out what to do with it.”

“We?” Lu Ten asked.

“Yeah,” Mako said. “We?”

Rozin rolled his eyes. “If you want to do it by yourself, go for it. I am, of course, not volunteering Mako’s assistance but I can help if needed, or wanted. Whatever you do though, you’re not doing it till I clear you. I might be able to heal you’re leg fully today but it’s going to take a lot of energy from both of us, and I won’t be able to heal your ribs and throat more until later, so that’s up to you.”

Lu Ten sighed in relief. “I would very much appreciate if you could heal my leg. I need answers, and I need them as soon as possible.” Lu Ten said.

Rozin tilted his head again, it was apparently a thing he did when contemplating something. Whatever it was that crossed his mind wasn’t shared as he turned to Mako instead.

“Did you not think to get us something for breakfast?” Rozin asked.

“I am going back to sleep,” Mako proclaimed, before launching himself back onto the bed. “You can get your own breakfast, I’m not your servant.”

Rozin snorted. “Oh, so you’re just Prince Lu Ten’s servant then?” He asked, dodging the pillow that went flying his way as he left the room. He paused for a moment on the other side of the door, head tilted, before shaking his head and walking off.

Lu Ten finished his meal in silence as Mako dosed off on the second bed in the room. Lu Ten contemplated trying to make a run for the door, but knew his leg wouldn’t make it and a second attempt at walking on it may burn up any good will Rozin had left for him.

He instead turned to Mako who was lazily watching him from the other bed. Lu ten flushed as the other man smirked at him, not having realized that Mako was watching him contemplate escape.

“It’s nothing against you and your friend,” Lu Ten said quickly. “I just, have things to do.”

Mako snorted, but said nothing.

Lu Ten let the silence rest for a moment before he figured he might as well use this time to ask about something that was bothering him. “Rozin says you two grew up in the Fire Nation, how’d that happen?”

Mako shook his head. “Iro, er, Rozin, grew up in the Fire Nation. I grew up in the colonies. Rozin’s backstory isn’t mine to tell but mine’s not all that uncommon. Mom was Fire Nation who moved to the colonies and fell in love with my dad who was Earth Kingdom, born in the colonies. Then they had me. It happens. Sometimes it’s love, other times it’s something best not spoken about. Regardless, it happens.”

“Best not spoken about?” Lu Ten asked, getting distracted from his original question. A sinking feeling took over his stomach, surely his people weren’t doing that to colony members. Earth Kingdom they may be but they were still under the Fire Nation’s protection.

Mako looked unamused. “Rape, Lu Ten. Fire Nation soldiers sometimes rape Earth Kingdom citizens.”

Lu Ten felt slightly sick. That couldn’t be true, his people wouldn’t. A small voice in the back of his mind told him to stop lying to himself. He changed the topic back.

“So Rozin was raised in the actual Fire Nation, then?” He asked.

Mako still looked unamused but just rolled his eyes at the topic change. “Yep, he was even a colonizer at one point. All dressed up in his nice shiny Captain’s uniform.” Mako smiled as he said this, but it had way too many teeth to be friendly.

Lu Ten, ignored the colonizer comment. Mako’s comment made him realized his own uniform was missing, he figured now wasn’t the best time to ask about it.

“Right,” Lu ten said, nodding to himself. Rozin being raised in the Fire Nation cleared up a lot of the confusion Lu Ten felt about the man. “That must explain it then.”

All hostility fell from Mako’s face, only to be replaced with clear confusion. “Uh, what? What could that possibly explain?” He asked.

“Why he’s so,” Lu Ten trailed off as he searched for the politest way to explain it. He finally settled with, “civilized.”

Mako’s face went red. “Excuse me? Ir-Rozin is, as you put it, civilized because news flash, the Water Tribes are just as civilized as the Fire Nation and Rozin was raised in a household made up of both cultures.”

Lu Ten leaned back, having not expected to be shouted at. “What are you talking about? My grandfather told me what the Water Tribes are like. He said they were a savage people who lived in ice houses and who still made their clothes from animal skins instead of cloth like the rest of the world. That’s not civilized.” He said.

“You’re not civilized,” Mako shouted, seemingly not caring that his comment made no sense.

A throat was cleared from the doorway and both men turned to see an unamused Rozin standing in the hall. He walked through the door and closed it behind him as he made his way over to Mako.

“Thank you,” Rozin said to Mako, “but I can handle insults to my person and my people myself. Do me a favor and go get Lu Ten’s armor from where we buried it. He may need it later.”

Mako opened his mouth, most likely to object but Rozin ignored him, turning his full attention to Lu Ten.

“Whatever,” Mako muttered as he made his way out of the door.

Lu Ten realized that whatever just happened may have broken whatever patience Rozin and Mako had for him. He definitely didn’t like the way Rozin said, “He” instead of “We”.

Rozin stared at Lu Ten for a few minutes before sighing and popping the top off his waterskin. At first, Lu Ten feared Rozin was going to attack him with the water but all he did was pull it from the pouch and gather it around his hands, the movement smoother than the last time Lu Ten saw him do it. The water started glowing that pale blue color again and Lu Ten watched in shock as Rozin went straight to healing his leg.

Lu Ten was silent for a moment, scared that if he spoke it would cause Rozin to stop healing him. Finally, he couldn’t stand the weighted silence anymore. “I don’t understand,” Lu Ten said. “I clearly said something that offended you and Mako. Why are you healing me?”

Rozin didn’t answer for a long time. He continued healing Lu Ten’s leg before seemingly stopping at random, and pulling away. The water quickly receding to the waterskin.

“It’s the civilized thing to do,” Rozin answered. “I learned that from my Grandma. She was born in the Northern Water Tribe and left for the South when she was a young woman. I don’t think I need to explain to you how she ended up in the Fire Nation. She eventually escaped and a Fire Nation family was kind enough to take her in and hide her among their other children. She eventually met a man and they fell in love.”

Rozin fiddled with the cap of his waterskin before finally looking Lu Ten in the eye. “When he learned who she was, and where she came from, he thought much the same as you.” Rozin said. “My Grandma lived in fear that one day Fire Nation soldiers would come for her, but they never did. He eventually came back and apologized to her. He realized without her, his life was suddenly missing beauty, love and compassion. He realized that any society that raised a woman so full of love and bravery had to be civilized. Do you know why?”

Lu Ten shook his head, completely mesmerized by Rozin’s tale. A waterbender actually managed to escape from the Southern Raiders. They also hid in plain sight.

“Because,” Rozin answered. “Because, civilization is not marked by the material you make your clothes from, civilization isn’t marked by the foods you eat or the inventions you create, civilization isn’t the language you speak or the type of art that you make. All of that is culture. Civilization is caring about people. It’s looking at another human being and saying, you’re like me. It’s seeing someone in pain and thinking let me help. My GranGran taught me that.”

Rozin placed his hand carefully over Lu Ten’s knee. “What separates civilization form the wilds of nature is looking as some pitiful thing destined to be left behind to die of a broken leg and healing it instead.”

Lu Ten was speechless, he didn’t even know what to think about what Rozin just said, let alone what to say in response to it. Rozin, apparently didn’t expect a response, as he removed his hand from Lu Ten’s leg and walked from the room.

He stopped at the door. “Many times in my life, I have found the, so called savagery, of the Water Tribes more comforting than anything offered from the Fire Nation. Differences don’t make someone less than you Lu Ten, they just make them different and there’s nothing wrong with that. The Fire Nation claims that they want to share their prosperity with the world but have you ever stopped to wonder if maybe the world doesn’t want your prosperity. That maybe our definition of prosperity is different.”

“I-“ Lu Ten started, before trailing off into silence. With no response, Rozin finally left.

Lu Ten stared opposite his bed towards the wall. There was a crack near the ceiling but otherwise the room had no real damage to it.

What Rozin said was sending everything Lu Ten thought he knew out the window, for the second time in the past few days. If Rozin was right then his grandfather lied. The people of the Water Tribes weren’t uncivilized savages. They weren’t people who took pleasure in hunting simply for the thrill of killing. They didn’t eat the meat raw from the bones. They didn’t hurt women and children for fun. They weren’t rapists, no, apparently his own people were the rapists.

Rozin was everything Fire Lord Azulon said the Water Tribes weren’t. He was intelligent, kind and well put together. While it would be easy enough to write that off as the Fire Nation in him, Rozin claimed it for the Water Tribes. Lu Ten wasn’t sure if he fully believed it, but if Rozin was lying, Lu Ten couldn’t tell.

That, was the entire problem. Rozin wasn’t easy to place in a box. What Rozin did, saving an enemy’s life, simply because it was the right thing to do, it wasn’t something the Fire Nation would do. Under his grandfather’s rule, under Sozin’s rule, if someone couldn’t care for themselves, or didn’t have family who cared for them, then they would just die.

If Rozin was right, then Lu Ten’s grandfather lied about the Water Tribes. Lu Ten wondered what else the old man may have lied about. He wondered what else he let himself believe because it was easier than questioning it.

Lu Ten was jerked from his contemplations by Mako’s return. The earthbender wasted little time in the room, throwing the armor down on the ground by Lu Ten’s bed and turning immediately to leave.

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said, surprising himself. He hadn’t intended on speaking. “I didn’t know, about the soldiers, I didn’t know. I, no, I guess I did know, I just, I don’t, I,” Lu Ten trailed off again. He couldn’t find the words to express the chaos in his head, he was beginning to think there weren’t any. Regardless of what he thought, he knew he needed these two men’s help, and an apology was a good place to start.

“Whatever,” Mako huffed, before slamming the door behind him.

A few minutes later the door creaked open as Rozin, quietly, entered the room. He handed Lu Ten lunch before taking a look at Lu Ten’s leg, again. He didn’t say anything as he went back to healing. Lu Ten wondered what was stopping him from healing it all at once but wasn’t going to ask, in fear of further offending the man.

“You should be good to walk now,” Rozin finally said. “You’ll limp, but you can walk. One more healing session should have it right as rain.”

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said. It wasn’t the right response. Rozin stared blankly at him.

“What’s sorry going to do?” Rozin asked.

“I don’t-" Lu Ten started. He hadn’t expected that reply. Most people just excepted Lu Ten’s apologies at face value or, like Mako, not at all. They didn’t usually throw it in his face like that but maybe that was what Lu Ten needed. He finally found the words to express just what was going on in his head.

“I don’t know,” Lu Ten said. “I just know that if what you and Mako say is true, then my grandfather, my father lied to me. We are supposed to be helping the rest of the world by sharing our greatness, our prosperity, our civility but if the rest of the world is just as great, just as prosperous, just as civilized, then what are we really sharing?”

Lu Ten didn’t like the look on Rozin’s face. It was a look of pity, but there was something just under the surface that Lu Ten couldn’t place. If he had to guess, he would call it satisfaction, but what would Rozin be satisfied with? 

Rozin shrugged his shoulders before sitting down on the opposite bed. “Sounds to me like you need to find more answers than just your little assassination problem,” Rozin said.

It sounded logical, but Rozin had shown his hand too soon, and Lu Ten was starting to suspect that he was being manipulated. Lu Ten came from a family full of manipulative people and there was a familiar glint in his eyes that spoke of a well-placed trap. Lu Ten just wasn’t sure how malicious the trap was. Rozin wasn’t wrong, Lu Ten did need answers, both for the assassination attempt and the truth behind this war. However, he wasn’t being completely honest in his reasoning either.

He wanted something, and right now, what he wanted lined up a little too well with what Lu Ten wanted.

“Sounds like I have a lot of digging to do,” Lu Ten said, turning his head towards the window and away from the waterbender. Rozin showed startling insight into things but he also showed a tendency to miss the obvious. Lu Ten wasn’t sure which of those was the act, and which was the truth, so he decided to play it safe and hide his face.

“I’ve got an idea for how we can solve your problems,” Rozin replied.

Jackpot. Lu Ten smiled inwardly as he caught the other man in his own trap. If Rozin wanted to come with him, to make sure whatever plot he had rolling, made it through, then Lu Ten would take full advantage. Enemies closer and all that.

“We?” Lu Ten asked. He played up his youth, knowing, at the very least, that was what originally drew in Mako. He finally looked over at Rozin, through the hairs that had fallen in his face from the lack of his top knot.

“Yeah, we kid,” Rozin replied. “You’re still my patient and I’m not giving up on you yet. I know your type.”

Lu Ten wasn’t sure what to make of that statement. Rozin was saying two things at once but Lu Ten only had the context for the obvious part. He was starting to realize he may be outmatched. He could only hope that what Rozin had in mind either wasn’t malicious or was something Lu Ten could handle.

“So, what’s your plan?” Lu Ten asked.

The smile on Rozin’s face was slightly terrifying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Lu Ten is so interesting but hard to do because I grew up around this type person. Growing up in an area that teaches you others are lesser and that's just the way life goes, is honestly horrible. Things like what Lu Ten says, are words you'd hear walking down school hallways and aisles of the grocery store. I've watched people grow out of this attitude but I've also sadly watched them sink deeper and deeper into it. 
> 
> Also for anyone confused about who Iroh (Rozin) is talking about it's "Rozin's grandmother" who doesn't exists outside of memory but is heavily based on Katara and Mai. It's explained in the next chapter but I figured I'd explain it now.


	7. Fault Lines - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh, Mako and Lu Ten revisit the site of Lu Ten's assassination attempt to try and find information. Tensions rise between the men as Lu Ten goes on the defensive and Mako takes offense. Iroh tries to play mediator to little effect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Lu Ten being a really bad person in this chapter and I mean really bad, racism, nationalism, manipulation attempts, Lu Ten says what in this story is defined and treated as a slur
> 
> Let me know if something else needs to be tagged because there maybe something I missed in this chapter. A lot is going on here.

As Iroh walked down stairs towards the inn’s restaurant, Lu Ten hesitantly trailing behind him, he wondered just how he was going to manage his plan.

He had completed one last healing session on Lu Ten’s leg, and attempted to heal his ribs a bit more, before the three men went to bed last night. Healing was starting to come easier to him than it originally did, it had a familiar feeling to the chi sensing, that his grandfather taught him. 

Originally a Sun Warriors technique, chi sensing had allowed Iroh and others with the knowledge, the ability to sense injuries both physical and even spiritual, but it had its limitations. Waterbending finally allowed him the ability to actually heal the issues he could only previously feel out, it was just exhausting for him to do, now that the adrenaline from the assassination attempt had worn off.

Mako and Iroh had planned to trade places sleeping the previous night, as they had the nights before, but Mako didn’t bother waking Iroh to swap. When Iroh did finally wake up, Mako immediately left the room. Iroh wasn’t sure what he was going to do about that.

Iroh, of course was not going to force Mako to do anything he didn’t want to, but he kind of needed Mako to come with them. It wouldn’t be wise for the two of them to split up, and while Lu Ten’s comments and ideas about the world were pissing Iroh off, just as much as Mako, Iroh saw opportunity. Agni warned him against trying to save his grandfather from Fire Nation indoctrination too early, but Lu Ten came with no such warning. In fact, Lu Ten nearly came gift wrapped.

Iroh wasn’t stupid, he knew Lu Ten’s type. They say they didn’t know what they were doing was wrong or hurtful. The truth, though, was that they knew exactly what they were doing and saying were wrong but did them anyway because it was easier than fighting against it, both socially and personally. 

Men like Lu Ten did one of two things when their world view was threatened; they either went on the defensive and fought harder for their beliefs, or they got a wake-up call and worked hard to change their pervious thought patterns. Iroh has seen both before many times, from many different places, within both the Fire Nation and the United Republic’s army.

Lu Ten seemed to take Iroh’s story of Rozin’s grandma, and Iroh’s own GranGran’s words, as a wake-up call but he also seemed to be hesitating over something. Iroh would have assumed it was just Lu Ten hesitating at the words of a stranger but something told him there was more to it. He knew the hesitation wasn’t Lu Ten faking his semi change of heart because he could clearly see when Lu Ten realized the dots don’t connect the way he was told they should. 

No, Lu Ten looked a little lost, like he wasn’t sure what to believe, but he also looked like what he learned didn’t really surprise him. Lu Ten’s hesitation was coming from something completely different than his small world view shift. The distrust didn’t start cropping up until Iroh started pushing at digging into the Fire Nation’s purpose for the war.

Iroh may have jumped the fire there at the end but Lu Ten needed just one more push. In the end it worked, and Lu Ten agreed with his plan, even if it wasn’t wholeheartedly. Iroh didn’t need full commitment, he just needed enough commitment to get his target where he wanted them, which was far away from Fire Nation propaganda and towards the truth.

The more Iroh thought on it, the more he could see why Agni wanted them to save Lu Ten. Iroh’s plan for his grandfather works a thousand times better with Lu Ten at its center. If they can get the true Crown Prince’s son to turn against the war, then when the war ends, no one can refuse Lu Ten’s right to rule, regardless of what goes down. All Iroh, and hopefully Mako, would need to do, is keep him dead until the last second.

It wouldn’t change much, in fact if all went to plan it would change nearly nothing until after the war ended, but it would make the period between the end of the war and their time run much smoother and hopefully allow for less footholds for people like Amon or Zaheer. While Iroh, and the Fire Nation very much loved Iroh’s grandfather, Lu Ten would, hopefully, be better equipped, more mature, and less hesitant than the sixteen-year-old Fire Lord had been.

Now he just had to convince Mako of that, which was easier said than done, because Lu Ten wasn’t really any of those things right now, from what Iroh could tell.

Mako was sat in a booth over in the corner, where Iroh had found him many times since they came here. Mako’s tendency to brood in corners, was something Iroh had gotten used to early on in their friendship. No, it was something Rozin had gotten used to early on in his friendship with his Mako. 

Iroh kept having to remind himself of that. He frequently, over the past two days, had found himself getting entirely too close to Mako or saying things he would never have dreamed of saying to an acquaintance. It was hard reconciling Rozin’s best friend with someone Iroh barely knew.

Reconciling a lot of Rozin’s memories were hard. They felt real, as real as any memory Iroh knew by heart from his own past, but he had never really experienced them, if Agni was right, no one had. On one hand the memories felt like his, on the other, they felt off limits. That didn’t stop Iroh from wanting to claim them. Rozin knew exactly the struggles Iroh himself faced with the mixing of two cultures that refused to mix, which made sense considering that they were based off of his own memories.

Tamia, Rozin’s grandma, reminded Iroh painfully of his own GranGran Katara, but also surprisingly of his grandmother Mai, as well. From what Iroh could see, she had a very kind nature that quickly turned deadly but she was also extremely reserved, to the point where no one really knew who she was. She superimposed herself over the top of them perfectly, as if the spirits had formed her memory into existence from the two of them. Iroh wondered if that wasn’t exactly what they had done.

Mako didn’t look up as Iroh and Lu Ten approached but he did tense, so Iroh figured there was no need to announce Lu Ten’s presence. He just slipped into the opposite side of the booth and Lu Ten followed. He reached for Mako’s plate to snatch some food, before remembering that they weren’t actually friends who did things like that, and stopped.

Mako either didn’t notice or didn’t care. He was too busy glaring at Lu Ten.

Iroh went to explain the situation to Mako but was cut off before he could speak.

“I don’t know what plan I- Rozin has running through his head. I don’t know where you two are planning on going or what you plan on doing when you get there. I don’t trust his Princeliness here farther than I can throw him, but if either of you think I’m letting someone like you walk off with my friend because he has some stupid idea of grandeur on the brain, then you’re wrong.” Mako said this without taking his eyes off Lu Ten once.

Iroh huffed. It looked like he wasn’t the only one finding issue with where the line between two memories blurred. “I can go where I want, and you can’t stop me Mako,” Iroh replied.

Mako grunted. “I know,” he said. “That’s why I’m coming with you.”

Iroh let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He felt a swooping feeling in his chest that he hadn’t felt since he was a child. Iroh didn’t make friends easily, all the friendships he did have were shallow at best. He was generally considered too much by most people. He was too serious, too quiet, or too friendly. Iroh had to remind himself that Mako wasn’t actually his friend, but the fact that Mako wasn’t abandoning him meant a lot.

The three men ate breakfast in silence, or mostly silence, Lu Ten was making a fair amount of noise, dramatically taking offense at Mako’s statement. Mako ignored him and slipped his plate to the middle of the table, silently giving Iroh permission to steal it. Iroh hesitated for a moment before helping himself.

Once breakfast was complete, the three men made their way back to the scene of the crime. Iroh had already explained to Lu Ten that there was very little information they would discover there and that they were better off just sneaking into the Fire Nation military camp using Lu Ten’s armor.

Lu Ten didn’t outright wave off Iroh’s plan but he also wasn’t keen on it, so Iroh figured a few hours wasted with Lu Ten’s plan wouldn’t hurt. It was Lu Ten’s time being wasted after all, Iroh and Mako had nowhere to be.

When they passed the edge of the town, the wind started to pick up and Iroh couldn’t help but shiver. Mako was also shaking next to him. Iroh looked on with jealously as Lu Ten walked unbothered by the cold winds. 

As Lu Ten stepped slightly closer, Iroh could feel the heat radiating off his body. He had never realized why people liked standing near and cuddling close to firebenders but if this was the type of heat they put off, well Iroh was tempted to huddle up close to Lu Ten himself.

Iroh missed his fire at moments like this. Two days ago, when he realized he had no clue where he was anymore due to his lost connection to the sun, Iroh thought the world had ended. However, as much as he missed his inner fire, Iroh was starting to slowly fall in love with the calming touch and cool relief of connecting with water.

Rozin’s memories helped too. His grandma had been from the Southern Watertribe like Katara, only she had been trained before she was taken. Southern style bending was a very interesting art, one lost to the war in his original time. He was glad to discover it wasn’t much different from the style his own GranGran had developed over her years traveling the world. As those who traveled from the Northern Watertribe made their way to the south, they picked up a lot of tricks from other cultures, including some moves adapted from firebending. Tamia never taught Rozin anything from the North, where she originally came from, not even healing, but from what Iroh himself recalled, from watching his GranGran and aunt, the two tribes didn’t even heal the same.

It wasn’t until the town was long behind them, that Iroh realized the mistake in his plan. He was now on a mini road trip with Mako and Lu Ten, who at this point really hated each other.

Iroh really wished he could say Lu Ten started it, but no, it was Mako.

“So, what exactly was the Fire Nation’s plan here?” Mako asked. “To get stuck?”

Lu Ten ignored him, but Mako was itching for a fight at this point and refused to be silent.

“No, really,” Mako continued. “If you don’t turn around now, everyone is going to die. They have you completely surrounded.”

Iroh kicked Mako in a futile attempt to get him to shut up. Lu Ten’s jaw clinched but he stayed silent.

“Ow,” Mako yelled. He glared at Iroh. “What was that for? You know I’m right. Even if they do get past the inner wall, they are just going to slam into a bunch of refugees and then they will be in Dai Li territory. I’m surprised the Dai Li haven’t already involved themselves.”

“Mako, stop it,” Iroh said. He grabbed Mako’s arm and dragged the man onto the other side of him. Now he had Lu Ten on one side and Mako on the other.

Iroh was surprised that Mako didn’t try to shake off his touch but before he could question it, Lu Ten finally spoke up.

“Dai Li?” he asked.

Mako went silent. Iroh nearly answered before realizing why Lu Ten asked. Right, still a Fire Nation soldier, maybe don’t tell him about the not so secret Ba Sing Se assassin types. Though he wondered why Lu Ten didn't already know about them, himself.

“None of your business,” Mako finally said, when he realized Lu Ten wasn’t dropping the subject.

Lu Ten shrugged. “You seemed fairly convinced of their importance a minute ago. I just wondered at what had you so confidant in their abilities. So far the Earth Kingdom has disappointed with their defenses.”

Mako’s ears turned red and Iroh quickly stopped him from falling right into Lu Ten’s trap. Instead of angrily correcting him, like Lu Ten wanted, Iroh instead chose to knock back in the hopes to end the conversation.

“Really, it sounds pretty well defended to me, because I don’t think it takes most people four hundred and fifty or so days to get past a wall,” Iroh replied. Lu Ten went silent and other than laughing, Mako also kept his mouth shut.

It lasted all of two minutes.

Mako and Lu Ten quickly fell into a pattern of picking and digging at each other over stupid things. Iroh would, eventually, get tired of the argument, or spot foul play on one or the other’s parts, and stop the two by jabbing the offender hard enough to shut them up. Most of the time the jabs were metaphorical or verbal but once or twice, Iroh had to dig his finger harshly between Mako’s ribs to stop him from crossing a line.

The snarking at least gave Iroh plenty of time to himself. He preferred silent contemplation over talking too much. Most people were surprised to find that Iroh was a natural born introvert, as it was in direct contradiction to the first Iroh, who was known to talk to anyone who would stay still long enough. He didn’t really like talking to strangers, or even people he knew well, for long periods of time. There were a few people who could get Iroh to talk for hours without notice, like his grandfather, or Jinora, but they were few and far between.

He reached out to grab Lu Ten, who had balled up his fist and tried to step around Iroh, so he could push him back to his right side and away from Mako.

He had spent a lot of the silence from carrying Lu Ten to the inn, to deep dive into his new Rozin memories. He couldn’t quite figure out why he had such an obsession with Rozin’s memories. The best he could figure was, that Iroh liked that he could be his own person within Rozin’s memories. Iroh knew that at the end of the day, he and Rozin were the exact same person but Iroh couldn’t jump the main gap that divided them.

Rozin was the first of his name. He had never experienced what it was like growing up with the shadow of a name spread out over your life, and that was where Iroh’s main envy of his fake-self stemmed from. When Iroh let himself be Rozin, Iroh got to experience just what it was like being his own person, which was intoxicating.

Rozin also wasn’t a prince and nothing could stop him from going where he wanted and doing what he wanted. Iroh wanted to be Rozin so badly he couldn’t stand it, but he could never fully be Rozin, just like he was beginning to realize he could never fully be just Iroh again. He was both and yet neither.

Iroh jabbed his finger extra hard into Mako’s ribs as Mako reached for Lu Ten’s bag with his armor in it, most likely to make fun of it. He felt like he was wrangling toddlers, not even babysitting the air babies was this hard.

Iroh thinks he may be able to accept the idea of being neither Rozin nor Iroh. Iroh could admit that he had a lower sense of self-worth from being the second of his name and that he often feels like people see his name and ancestor more than they actually see him. Something in between being the second and the original actually sounded nice because as much as having his own name like Rozin was a dream come true, he was still rather attached to Iroh.

It would be an interesting line to walk. 

Iroh just hoped that he would eventually stop feeling like he was walking around in someone else’s body. The clothes and hair didn’t help much, he assumed they were a gift from the spirits, but he couldn’t help but feel like an imposter in them. Rozin had apparently made them himself as soon as he got far enough away from the colonies. 

The arm bands were the most interesting part of the outfit, Rozin had made them himself, and much like the armbands of other water tribesmen, they held meaning. Rozin’s armbands symbolized someone who was lost, someone who got separated from the tribes for one reason or another. Rozin, much like Iroh, was somewhat born lost, and the armbands expressed that. It was the type of symbolism Iroh himself would use, if he were to ever make such clothing. The Spirits probably did that on purpose.

With that thought, Iroh finally recalled something Agni had said, that could explain why he felt so attached to Rozin. Rozin didn’t exist. Agni said people’s memories would be backfilled, not that the events would change. Until Iroh set foot in this time, Rozin didn’t exist anywhere, any past Rozin, or even Rozin’s parents and grandmother, would have are all altered memories. Memories based on Iroh’s own experiences. He could claim them, because they were his.

Rozin was just the name given to the backstory, Iroh was still the person. He wasn’t sure what to do with that information. It made his head hurt to think about it.

Luckily, at that point, they finally reached the wall, and Iroh couldn’t be more grateful. He was starting to contemplate murder as the next solution to break up a fight.

Lu Ten didn’t look so good, taking in the sight of his near death. His face was extremely pale and his breathing wasn’t coming out just right.

Even Mako kept his mouth shut, as the two watched Lu Ten’s inward struggle.

“His name is Ryo,” Lu Ten finally said. “The one who broke my leg. He is a Colonel under my father, one of two, the other being me.”

Iroh placed a hand over Mako’s mouth, whatever Lu Ten was about to say didn’t need to be interrupted by a smartass comment. Mako licked Iroh’s hand but Iroh didn’t budge, he was an older sibling too and his sister wasn’t afraid to draw blood.

“I knew a lot of the men in my father’s company thought I was unfit for my position, but I didn’t think anyone would kill me over it.” Lu Ten said. “He’s the reason I burned my throat so badly. I was trying to do the breath of fire, a move my father’s rather well known for, when he choked me from behind. I just don’t understand.”

Iroh saw an opportunity and took it. “I know you are hesitant to walk two strangers back to your campsite but they why of what happened isn’t going to be found here. It’s going to be found back at your campsite - ouch.” Iroh yelled, shaking his hand as he removed it from Mako’s mouth.

Mako, apparently, had enough of being kept silent as he had bit down on one of Iroh’s fingers.

“Well, your captors did say something about not letting you ruin the nation and allowing help with taking out the royal trash, so that might have something to do with it,” Mako said.

Iroh could have strangled him. While, Mako wasn’t wrong, and the reason the assassins helped try to kill Lu Ten was because they wanted Lu Ten and his father removed from the line of succession, that wasn’t a helpful way to put it.

Lu Ten tensed. “Excuse me? What exactly are you trying to imply here?”

The expression on Mako’s face wasn’t a kind one and Iroh didn’t like seeing it there for multiple reasons, one of which being that Mako was about to throw a wrench in Iroh’s plan.

“Exactly what it sounds like, your highness,” Mako replied. “Like your people don’t want you and your daddy in charge anymore.”

Iroh could hear Lu Ten’s teeth grinding from where he stood a foot away. Iroh knew he should interrupt, but it was like watching a plane crash, he couldn’t move and his mouth felt glued shut. He knew how badly that would have hurt Lu Ten, because he knew how badly something like that would hurt himself.

“Right,” Lu Ten said. “Well, if I wanted the opinion of a Smothered Flame, I would have asked.”

Iroh didn’t move quick enough, truthfully, he wasn’t really trying to. What Lu Ten just said was a nasty term for a child born of Fire Nation mixed heritage, usually told to those of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation decent, it could also apply to someone like Iroh as well. You particularly didn’t want to say it to a firebender of mixed heritage, and though Iroh and Mako were no longer firebenders the term still stung harshly to hear.

Mako launched himself at Lu Ten and had the taller man pinned to the ground. Iroh flinched, when Lu Ten yelled, just knowing that his ribs would hurt from the fall. Mako, didn’t seem to care, and proceeded to punch Lu Ten in the face.

Iroh, despite fully understanding Mako’s reaction to the slur and wanting to land his own shot if he’s being honest, knew none of this was helpful to anyone and pulled Mako off of the Prince. He may or may not have let Mako land one last kick on Lu Ten’s arm.

Lu Ten laid on the ground, no doubt, shocked that anyone would dare outright attack him. Iroh had been there once before, when he got into a fight with a classmate at school and soon learned that some people didn’t care what your title was, they would knock you flat on your ass anyway. Iroh was of course twelve when he learned this, not twenty-one. He was beginning to wonder just how sheltered Lu Ten was. Did he even attend a school setting?

“Stop it,” Iroh shouted. Mako went to open his mouth but Iroh kept talking. “Both of you.”

Iroh turned to Lu Ten. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing but if you want our help, maybe throwing slurs around isn’t the way to get it. We are trying to get to the bottom of this situation because if someone is trying to shake up the monarchy, that affects us as well but our charity only extends so far. Take a moment and think about what you just said to Mako and decided on whether or not you’re going to actually bother learning from this situation or if you’re just going to burry your head in the sand.” Iroh said.

Iroh, with his firm grip still on Mako’s arm, walked a good distance from where Lu Ten was still laid shocked on the ground.

Mako was shaking. “Are you okay?” Iroh asked. “If need be, we can ditch him at any time, he’s the one that needs us, not the other way around.”

“No,” Mako said. “I’m not okay and no we can’t ditch him. Let’s not play around anymore, Iroh. Lu Ten is the one Agni wanted us to save.”

“Yeah,” Iroh said. He for once ignored Mako calling him by the wrong name. This really wasn’t the time to be correcting him. “But, our only actual job was to show up in this time to disrupt the chance spirit, supposedly we’ve already done that. This whole Lu Ten situation, is just extra that Agni requested. We don’t have to do this.”

“I think we do,” Mako said, quietly. “At this point we’ve saved his life. We are responsible for what he changes in the timeline now. We broke him from the script, as Agni put it. If we don’t keep him on the right track, he could completely disrupt the war and the Fire Nation could possibly win.”

Iroh was speechless for a moment. In all his plotting and planning, that idea never cross his mind. He had been thinking in more abstracts of what Lu Ten could potentially be used for, not the reality of him now being a player on the board regardless of what happens. Mako was right, and as bad as it sounded, they couldn’t just let Lu Ten run free.

Iroh quickly looked over his shoulder at where Lu Ten had been and was startled to see him gone. Panicked Iroh looked around, only to find Lu Ten hovering just far enough away from their conversation to, hopefully, not hear anything.

Iroh gave the Prince a questioning look but Lu Ten was glancing past him at Mako.

Mako gestured for Lu Ten to come closer and Lu Ten did cautiously.

When he got close enough to be heard, but not close enough that Mako could tackle him to the ground again, he spoke.

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said. “I’m not used to monitoring my words, and it just slipped out, but I’ll try. I didn’t mean to offend you and I would be extremely grateful for your help.”

It wasn’t the most genuine apology ever but it also wasn’t insincere. Mako rolled his eyes but nodded. They didn’t really have a choice at this point. They could work on Lu Ten’s nationalist and racists views later. Right now, they needed the facts to break Lu Ten away from the Fire Nation.

Lu Ten then turned to Iroh. “I’ve also realized you were right. We do need to break into the camp. Your idea of using my uniform should work but we have to get the royal emblem off first. The best side of camp to enter on is the south side, which is all the way around the camp. It’s the side troops go in and out of all the time so you shouldn’t be noticeable.” Lu Ten explained.

“Right,” Iroh said, pushing down thoughts of just what this man could do to the timeline, should his plan not work. “Mako will need to wear it and he should be able to get one more suited for my size.”

“I don’t think the Fire Nation makes uniforms in size short,” Mako interrupted, in what was probably an attempt to lighten the mood.

“No,” Lu Ten replied. “They do. My dad has some, though even Rozin isn’t that short.”

“Anyway,” Iroh said. He couldn’t help but wonder why the one time the two got, even somewhat, along, it had to be at his expense. “Once I have a uniform, we should be able to explore relatively uninterrupted, provided we play it smart. The only issue is what to do with Lu Ten.”

“What to do with me?” Lu Ten asked. “What do you mean? I’m coming with you.”

“No,” Iroh said. “You’re not. Everyone knows what you look like uniform or not, even being near the camp is enough to get us caught. You are going back to the inn and you’re going to wait there.”

“No, I’m not,” Lu Ten said. “I’m going with you!”

Iroh sighed. “It’s too much of a risk,” Iroh repeated.

“Hey,” Mako said. “Maybe Lu Ten’s right, maybe he should come with us. After all, we know nothing about this camp or any of the people in it.”

Iroh opened his mouth to object but Mako rushed on to explain. “I’m not saying he should come into the camp with us but he would be helpful to have close by. We need information and he can give that to us.”

Now it was Lu ten who tried to object. Mako didn’t let him speak either. “Look, you either give us enough intel to not get caught in the camp or you spend the rest of your life wondering who tried to kill you and dodging assassination attempts. Your choice but you’re not coming into the camp with us. We aren’t that stupid.”

Lu Ten glared at Mako for a moment before conceding. “Fine,” Lu Ten said. “But if I think for one second, you two have alterative motives for being in the camp, I will put you down myself.”

Lu Ten looked Iroh directly in the eye as he said this. Iroh hadn’t realized just how much Lu Ten distrusted him after his manipulation grew more obvious. Iroh wasn’t sure how to make himself seem more trustful but he’d have to do something. Lu Ten would never come with them, if he thought Iroh was also out to get him. Sadly, Iroh’s next move would definitely seems suspicious.

Iroh waited until Lu Ten was once again out of hearing range before grabbing Mako’s attention. “Do you think you can make handcuffs or something out of earth? I don’t trust him to stay still.” Iroh said.

Mako seemed to contemplate Iroh’s question before shaking his head. “Handcuffs no, can I make his feet get stuck in the ground? Maybe.” Mako replied. “I’ve gotten better at sinking things.”

Iroh nodded. That would have to be good enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically it's Saturday for me but I'm posting now anyway because I'm busy tomorrow.
> 
> Not 100% on this chapter but I can't figure out what's bothering me (probably Lu Ten) or how to change it and at this point I've moved past it.
> 
> Also I changed the chapter titles to include PoV because the PoV pattern changes between arcs to allow me to write situations and events with specific view points. Ex: arc 1 goes Iroh, Mako, Lu Ten (1-10) and arc 2 goes Lu Ten, Mako, Iroh (11-15) while arc 3 for now goes Mako, Iroh, Lu Ten (16-24).


	8. Conspiracy Theory - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After nearly killing Lu Ten himself, Mako, along with Iroh, infiltrate the Fire Nation camp to look for information on Lu Ten's assassination attempt. What they find doesn't seem to surprise Iroh, but Mako is rather horrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mako's inner thoughts (Jk but not really), brief mention of previous internal homo/biphobia, thoughts about experiencing discrimination, racism, war, assassination attempts, and shitty family members.

Mako was really getting tired of Lu Ten. The Prince managed to hit all of the button’s Mako had. Iroh really wasn’t helping with his hope to convert Lu Ten into a better person.

Mako knew it was possible. He himself had a long period of time where he struggled with his own inner homophobia and biphobia, from a childhood on the streets of Republic City. Unlearning prejudice took time but it also took willingness to change and Mako wasn’t really seeing the potential Iroh saw.

The words Smothered Flame were still ringing in his ears. He hadn’t been called that since his childhood and the words brought back dark memories, both real and fake. Zolt often called him that as a teen, when he was running for the Triads. One would think being the leader of a multicultural gang he would have less prejudice but no, his prejudice was just directed at those of mixed heritages. He always said it a shame that no matter how good Mako got at firebending, he would always be dirty like his dad. Mako usually held his brother tighter on nights like that and buried his face in his dad’s scarf.

Street kids were often from mixed heritages and backgrounds, it was usually how things went. Mako and Bolin never really got any flak from other street kids. No, it was usually adults that saw the two boys, one clearly Fire Nation and the other obviously Earth Kingdom, and thought them friends. Their charitable opinions often changed when faced with the truth.

Mako lost count of the number of times, when he would correct people that Bolin was his little brother and get a response like, “Oh, that’s…nice”. They would usually walk off at that point. An Earth Kingdom boy befriending a Fire Nation boy was cute and interesting, them being siblings, not so much.

Mako and Bolin had to run away from several orphanages over the years because people were usually looking to adopt a child with a similar background to themselves. They didn’t want both the firebender and the earthbender, they only wanted one or the other. That is, if they didn’t back out of the adoption on their own, simply because Mako and Bolin were of mixed nationalities.

Lu Ten was walking in the front of the group for once, being the only one who knew where they were going. Mako wasn’t too comfortable with the whole situation. Lu Ten suddenly had all the power in this situation. It became easier for him to turn on them every step they took closer to the camp. Technically, Mako could see the camp from where they were but if Lu Ten was telling the truth, he was walking them around the whole camp to a southern entrance.

Iroh was walking in step next to Mako and wouldn’t stop fiddling with his nails. He had seemed nervous, since Mako had pointed out that Lu Ten was their responsibility now. It seemed his confidence in his plan was failing, now that he realized just what they could have potentially done.

The nastier side of Mako thought it was a good thing Iroh was feeling nervous, since it was his fault that they saved Lu Ten in the first place. The more logical side of Mako knew that was wrong. Mako was lifting the rocks off of Lu Ten well before he even knew who the man was.

Mako reached out and grabbed Iroh’s hands, if only to stop him from picking at his torn cuticles. Iroh stood up fully in surprise, Mako hadn’t even realized he was slouching. Mako didn’t say anything to Iroh’s questioning look. He just released his hands and kept walking. 

They crested a hill that protected the west side of the camp and Lu Ten brought them to a stop.

“The tent in the middle, up towards the north is my father’s.” Lu Ten said. “The tent out towards the east, over by the dinning pavilion tent is my own. The camp is symmetrical, so across from my tent on the west side exactly is Colonel Ryo’s tent. I don’t know who the other two men were but one of them was a Captain and the other was a normal foot solider. I’m not too sure why they were working together.”

“It’s not really a question of what your rank is when it comes to assassinations, rebellions, and sabotage, just who is willing to turn their back on their country.” Iroh said.

Lu Ten gave him a strange look that Mako couldn’t decipher. All Mako could tell, was that it wasn’t friendly, which was odd because he thought the two had been getting along. As Iroh looked towards the ground and rubbed the back of his neck, Mako realized that might not be the case.

“So, where’s the armory?” Mako asked, trying to get the other two men back on track.

Lu Ten pointed far towards the south side of the camp. “There, near the entrance.”

“So, getting Iroh armor shouldn’t be a struggle,” Mako said.

Lu Ten snorted. “No, I suppose getting the armor won’t be a struggle. It’s getting it out of the camp that’s going to cause the real issue.” Lu Ten replied.

“Nah,” Mako said. “I grew up on the streets, I know how to steal and not get caught. Don’t worry about it.”

Lu Ten narrowed his eyes at him. Mako realized telling the man with unsavory opinions on people of the Earth Kingdom that he, someone with both Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation heritage, could steal, probably wasn’t smart, but Lu Ten’s ideals were his own issue. Mako knew he was a good person, the Brat Prince’s opinion wouldn’t change that.

Iroh cleared this throat and stepped between Mako and Lu Ten. He had been running interference all day and on one hand Mako could appreciate his tenacity, on the other Mako really wanted to get a second shot in on the Prince.

Lu Ten backed up at Iroh’s sudden appearance between them. There was definitely something going on between them that Mako was missing.

“So, once we have the armor, we will sneak back into the camp and go through Colonel Ryo’s tent, since we don’t know who the other two men were and just hope for the best.” Iroh said, gesturing back towards the camp.

“Colonel Ryo’s not stupid. He’s not going to have anything incriminating sitting in his tent,” Lu Ten said. “That’s why I didn’t think this plan was going to yield anything in the first place.”

“Well,” Iroh said, his teeth clinched. “We have to try something, yes.”

“Yeah,” Lu Ten said. “I should try not humoring two sympathizers and just tell my father that someone tried to kill me.”

“We already went over this,” Iroh said. He looked frazzled that Lu Ten wasn’t doing what he wanted. Iroh was probably used to being listened to without question, being a Prince himself. Mako wasn’t surprised in the slightest, though. He was beginning to understand that Lu Ten’s plan was to do the exact opposite of whatever it was they needed him to do.

“And please explain, again, why I should trust whatever reasoning you two have given me?” Lu Ten questioned. “This is my turf now, I’m not powerless to you two anymore.”

Iroh breathed out deeply. “Why can’t you just understand that neither of us want to hurt you? That both of us had completely charitable reasons for saving you and that until you started verbally attacking us, we had no issue with you? We just wanted to help you but if you want to march back into that camp and paint a target sign back on your forehead, go. I can’t be bothered to care anymore.” Iroh had started out speaking but by the end he was outright shouting at Lu Ten. Mako peaked around the tree line just to make sure no one else heard him.

“Why did you care in the first place?” Lu Ten yelled back. “You had no reason to.”

“It’s the decent thing to do!” Iroh shot back.

“No!” Lu Ten shouted. “Stop lying to me. You knew who I was. Why did you save me?”

“Because our country deserves better!” Iroh replied.

Lu Ten jerked back as if slapped. Mako watched as the two royals stared across at each other, both out of breath from shouting.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lu Ten asked. All the fight seemed to have drained out of him. “I though you wanted my father and I on the throne.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Iroh said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Our people deserve better than this war, Prince Lu Ten. They deserve better than being taught how to fight from a young age, they deserve better than having to die on battle fields far away from home, they deserve better than not having food on their tables, simply because all the food is being shipped out here to your camp. Why can’t you understand that nearly one-hundred years of war isn’t good for anyone one, including us? It’s not just the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom that are suffering, our people are too, and for what? Prosperity? What prosperity? The only thing prosperous in the Fire Nation right now is the military and the nobility.”

Iroh was panting at the end of his rant. Mako and Lu Ten were both speechless. Logically, Mako knew the Fire Nation was still struggling to undo a lot of mindsets and effects from the Hundred Year War, even seventy-five years later, but he had no clue that it would still affect someone like Iroh so badly, he would give that strong of a speech.

“The original firebenders are all dead,” Iroh said softly, “The Air Nomads have been completely wiped out. We’ve systematically taken every single waterbender from the South Pole. We’ve conquered a quarter of the Earth Kingdom. Your company, just now burned down all the crops from here to the outer wall.”

Iroh grabbed Lu Ten by the shoulder and turned him to face the west. “Look,” Iroh said pointing at the scorched rice fields. “Is that prosperity? Is that helping these people? What are you doing here, Lu Ten, and how can you live with yourself having done it?”

Iroh released Lu Ten. “I wanted to save you, not just from death but from the dark path our nation has gone down, because you’re young and your opinions aren’t set in stone yet. I hoped that you’d be able to help me end this war and save not only our people but all of the people. If you find that nefarious, then I don’t know what to say to you. I thought you could be better, Prince Lu Ten. I guess I was wrong. Do what you want.”

Iroh was shaking as he marched off past Mako. He only went far enough away that he could barely be seen through the tree line, waiting for Lu Ten or Mako to make a decision.

Mako wondered for a moment, just what growing up in the Fire Nation was like for Iroh. In Republic City it was hard because the war was still a part of living memory and many in the city were from the colonies, or children and grandchildren of those from the colonies. Most of them didn’t have friendly opinions of those from the Fire Nation. Mako grew up surrounded by a lot of people who hated him for a war that was over, well before Mako’s own parents had been born, let alone Mako himself.

He thought being raised in the Fire Nation itself wouldn’t come with those type of issues, apparently it didn’t, but it did come with a whole different set, if Iroh was anything to go by. Now that Mako thought about it, he really wouldn’t want to be the Crown Prince of a nation known for the Hundred Year War. The idea of having to mind what you say at all times to make sure you didn’t accidentally restart a war was horrible to Mako, who couldn’t even mind what he said to his boss.

“I don’t trust you two,” Lu Ten finally said, startling Mako out of his contemplations.

“Really,” Mako said, “Well, we don’t trust you either.”

Iroh just sighed from wherever he stood, just out of sight.

“But,” Lu Ten said, glaring at Mako. “I’m willing to hear you out. I don’t like the way you’ve been manipulating me, and don’t think for a second, I don’t know that’s what you were doing. I also don’t know if you’re telling the truth but you’re not wrong. Things are not adding up properly in my head anymore and I am willing to take a closer look at them, later. Now, I want answers about who is trying to kill me and I think I can at least trust that it’s not the two of you.”

Iroh peaked out from behind a tree like a cautious animal. Mako hated how cute it looked. He was a twenty-six-year-old man, adorable shouldn’t be a description used for him.

Lu Ten looked at Mako out of the corner of his eye. “I guess I also owe you a more genuine apology. I really don’t usually throw names like that around and I shouldn’t have said it, especially to someone who saved my life.” Lu Ten said.

Mako grunted at what Lu Ten said. That was better than the last apology but it still missed the point. Lu Ten’s face fell and Mako realized that he really was trying that time.

Mako huffed. “Just say sorry like a normal person and don’t throw anymore slurs around. Then maybe, I’ll forgive you.” Mako said.

“Sorry,” Lu Ten said, as Iroh walked towards them.

“Right,” Iroh said, as if he hadn’t just blown a fuse a few minutes ago. “So, let’s get to the south end so Mako can get me a uniform. Then we will figure everything else out.”

“Fine, but I still don’t think this is going to work,” Lu Ten said, turning to leave.

They already had all the information they needed at this point and with Lu Ten, finally, in full agreement with the plan, Iroh nodded at Mako. 

Mako didn’t catch Lu Ten’s right foot before it lifted off the ground, so he grabbed at Lu Ten’s left foot as it hit the ground instead. It took more effort than Mako was expecting and for a minute, he thought he would miss again but he managed it.

Lu Ten’s left foot was encased in the earth and he went tumbling forward. He would have face planted had Iroh not been standing next to him. Mako was kind of disappointed that he didn’t.

“What?” Lu Ten asked, as his right foot was also trapped in the earth.

“What?” Mako repeated, mockingly. “I said we didn’t trust you either. Stay here. If we aren’t back by morning you can assume, we were killed or captured.”

“How does that help me get out of this situation if you don’t come back?” Lu Ten questioned. Mako wasn’t even looking at Lu Ten anymore but he could still hear the pout in his voice.

“Eh,” Mako said. “You don’t.”

Iroh shook his head before dragging a laughing Mako away from the hill top.

The last thing they heard as they walked away was Lu Ten shouting, “I hate you two.”

Iroh snorted and Mako couldn’t stop himself from laughing again.

They stopped half a mile away from the campsite for Mako to put on the uniform. The royal emblem came off a lot easier than Lu Ten implied it would but that may have simply been because Iroh was familiar with it.

When they reached the southern entrance, Iroh ducked down behind some unused carts as Mako walked into the camp. The camp looked different from the ground but luckily the armory was in plain sight.

Mako had learned at a young age that the key to sneaking into a place you shouldn’t be was confidence. If you acted like you were where you were supposed to be, most people wouldn’t question it. The only real issue beyond that was running into someone who knew better. So, Mako watched the other soldiers and made sure no one too high ranking noticed him.

The best thing about Fire Nation combat uniforms were their lack of rank indication. From Private to Colonel to General, all combat uniforms looked the same and other than the royal emblem Lu Ten’s uniform was no different. Most people likely assumed he was a random foot soldier wandering around in his off time.

He picked up a sack on his way to the armory and filled it with random things. No one questioned why he walked into the armory with a full sack nor did they question him when he walked out with a full sack. There was no need for them to.

The tricky part was getting the sack out of the camp without people wondering where he was going with it. The answer came with the mail cart, which luckily enough, happened to be parked out by the entrance to the camp. It looked like it had fought the entire war completely on its own but it was still standing, so there was no reason someone wouldn’t be carrying mail to it.

Iroh had been crouched a few carts away and slowly made his way over to Mako. Mako noticed that the half wolf-tail, half down hair style Iroh had been given by the spirts, was now up in a half top knot. Iroh made short work putting on the uniform.

Mako looked up at the sky as they wondered into the camp. It was close to one, or maybe two in the afternoon. Mako couldn’t really tell the exact degree of the sun by looking at it. He wished he could feel it.

The armory may have been an easy find but Colonel Ryo’s tent was proving difficult to locate. They accidentally ended up close to Lu ten’s own tent, as indicated by a guard posted at every corner of the tent, and had to walk to the other side of the camp.

Iroh paused as they walked past the huge tent in the middle of the campsite. White flags with golden trim flew at half-mast on the poles that stood at either side of the tent entrance. Iroh stared at them entranced.

“Hey, kids,” an older soldier said, coming up behind Iroh, “I know it’s hard to look at but you don’t want to get caught staring at the General’s tent right now. The nation may have lost a Prince but the General just lost his son. Come along.”

Mako and Iroh let themselves be led away but when the old man tried to lead them towards the dinning tent, they told him they had information for Colonel Ryo.

“Ah, yes,” the old soldier said, stroking his beard. “The Colonel has shown great strength stepping up in our time of need. He’s been really busy lately. I’ll let you boys get to it, then, though why are two of you needed to deliver a message?”

Iroh and Mako looked at each other startled but Mako calmed down when the old man playfully narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t suspicious, he was just picking at the newbies.

“Well,” Mako said, drawing out the word. “Technically, he’s supposed to take the message.”

Mako pointed at Iroh before continuing, “But, I have nothing to be doing right now, so I’m going with him.”

The old man laughed. “Be lucky I’m one of the nicer Commanders, others might give you something like mucking the Rhino stalls, if you had nothing to do, but I can see you are both very busy delivering a message, so I guess I’ll let it slide.”

Mako smiled a troublemaker smile before clapping Iroh’s shoulders and turning him away. “Thank you, we best get going.”

“Nice,” Iroh said, when they got far enough away from the dinning pavilion.

“Eh,” Mako said, “He wasn’t really suspicious but if we didn’t give an explanation that would have changed quickly.”

They finally reached Colonel Ryo’s tent. Unlike Lu Ten’s, there were no guards posted at it. Mako made his way around the back and peaked into the tent. It was empty. 

Mako waved Iroh into the tent, then took a seat on a barrel not too far from the tent entrance. Iroh was in the tent for a good bit, to the point that Mako was getting slightly concerned. Mako recognized a man coming around the corner, but it wasn’t the Colonel, it was one of the other men that helped him.

The man got close enough to the tent that Mako nearly stood up to run interference but he walked straight past the entrance to a barrack style tent, on the other side. He had a letter clinched tightly in his hand. Mako wrote him off as the foot solider, Lu Ten spoke about.

Iroh finally came strolling out of the tent. His face and body language told Mako nothing.

“I sort of found something,” Iroh said when he was close enough. He had a roll of parchment clinched in his hand. “It’s not anything that tells us who tried to assassinate Lu Ten but I think I have the name of the Captain and Private who helped him. They would be more likely to slip up and might be worth checking. Captain Aoi and Private Shaan.”

Mako nodded, it was sound reasoning. “I think the Private lives in those barracks right there. He just walked into them.”

Iroh turned to look where Mako gestured, just in time for the Private to walk back out of the tent. The man looked around as if checking his surrounding and made direct eye contact with Mako and Iroh. He narrowed his eyes at them before quickly walking off.

That wasn’t good, they would have to move very quickly now.

“Okay, we may need to split up now. You search the Private’s bed and I’ll try and find the Captain’s tent.” Iroh said. He didn’t wait for Mako’s agreement before taking off.

Mako wasted no time before entering the barracks. Mako’s glad Iroh told him the Private’s name because that was the only way to differentiate the beds. Shaan’s bed was in the middle of the room. It was in a disorderly state that would get him in serious trouble if he didn’t fix it before night fall.

Only one other person was in the tent but he was deeply asleep, curled in a ball on the opposite side of the room. Mako quickly searched the bed but there wasn’t anything suspicious there. The trunk at the end of the bed however, delivered different results.

Underneath piles of quickly unfolded clothes, was the letter the Private had been gripping so hard. Mako pulled it out. The seal had already been broken and was rather non-descript but was still dripping with money.

Mako unrolled the letter and his breath caught in his throat. It wasn’t very long for how much it really said.

_Private Shaan,_

_I grow impatient with the lack of news from the front. My nephew must be taken care of. Has Colonel Ryo delivered our package to our new friends or not?_

_Prince Ozai_

It wasn’t incriminating if you didn’t have all the facts. Most people wouldn’t think anything of it, other than the oddity of the Prince writing to a random Private but that could be explained away as orders from the Colonel to act as a go between.

Mako realized now, why Iroh hadn’t answered him that night he had asked who ordered Lu Ten’s assassination. Fire Lord Ozai was many things, evil, ruthless, crazy, but Mako had no clue he would go so far ask to kill his own nephew. Things like that weren’t taught in the few schools Mako had gone to over his life time.

Iroh knew though. Mako wondered if the royal family hid that information or if Mako just never stayed in school long enough to learn it. Regardless, it was a rather horrifying thought. Mako didn’t have much family, up until a few years ago he only had his brother. The idea that any of his family members could want to kill him was so out there, Mako couldn’t even imagine it.

Mako tucked the letter into his uniform and ducked out the opposite side of the tent then he had entered. As Mako took in his new surroundings, he realized he had a problem.

He had no clue where Iroh was.

Mako could kick himself and next time he saw Iroh he was definitely kicking him too. With no other option, Mako started making his way towards the southern entrance. He didn’t want to hover by the entrance for too long as that would look suspicious, so he picked up a piece of wood and a knife and sat down to start whittling.

Mako didn’t actually know how to whittle but no one in this camp would know that, so he just hoped it didn’t look too odd. It was nearly sundown by the time Iroh had made his way back to the entrance.

He had a bag thrown over his shoulder and a frown on his face. He looked sad.

“Did you find anything?” Mako asked.

Iroh nodded. “Correspondence from the Dai Li,” Iroh said. Mako blanched at that information. Just how big was Lu Ten’s assassination conspiracy?

“They told the Captain that the task had been carried out and that his boss should be notified and hold up his end of the bargain.” Iroh said.

“His end of the bargain?” Mako asked.

“Pulling the soldiers sieging the city away. Of course, he only means temporarily but the Dai Li don’t need to know that, or rather they know that and don’t really care so long as this particular siege stops.” Iroh replied. “I’m just pissed because they didn’t mention once who the ring leader of the operation was.”

“It was Ozai,” Mako said.

Iroh looked at him in surprise.

“Prince Ozai sent a letter to Private Shaan, most likely to keep suspicion off of Colonel Ryo, asking if the package was delivered to their new friends and that his nephew needed to be taken care of.” Mako continued.

Iroh sighed in relief. “Good, that’s what we needed. Let’s get out of here before we get caught.”

Mako nodded, seeing the third man, the Captain, from Lu Ten’s assassination searching the camp fanatically.

When they got far enough from the camp, Mako finally addressed Iroh’s sad face.

“What’s going on in your brain?” Mako asked.

“I’ve learned since I was a kid, the horrors my family committed over the course of the war and I already knew who ordered Lu Ten’s assassination. It was something my grandfather learned shortly after the end of the war and he hid it, along with who killed Fire Lord Azulon. Still, it’s different actually experiencing it. Seeing it in action.” Iroh said. “I guess it always felt so far away before.”

“He killed his own dad too?” Mako asked, before realizing that wasn’t exactly comforting.

“Ah, no,” Iroh said, awkwardly. “My great-grandmother Ursa did that but only because Fire Lord Azulon ordered my grandfather to be killed.”

“What?” Mako asked, giving up on comforting Iroh at that point. There was something seriously wrong with Iroh and Lu Ten’s family.

“Let’s just not talk about it, but thanks for trying,” Iroh said.

In desperate need of a topic change, Mako asked Iroh why he had a bag.

“Oh,” Iroh said. “I figured, if Lu Ten was coming with us he’d need essentials and I thought having his own would make him feel better. If he doesn’t come with us, he can just take the bag back with him but hopefully we can get him to stay, because otherwise we are screwed.”

“How,” Mako started, “did you even begin to manage that?”

“I told the guard at the back of the tent that Captain Aoi needed her for something and that I was sent to relieve them. For a warmongering country their military is entirely too trusting. I’ve only ever served in the United Republic military and I hope the Fire Nation military from our time isn’t this bad.” Iroh said. “Anyway, I figured our cover was already blown and having the Captain also searching for us wasn’t going to cause any more damage than was already done. From there I just slipped in and out the back. Did you know Lu Ten has a fire slug plushie tucked under his bed? I grabbed it just in case he wanted it but it’s still a rather odd thing to bring to war.”

Mako burst out into laughter as they finally, reached the hill they had left Lu Ten on.

Mako’s good humor didn’t last long as Lu Ten came into sight. As much as Mako thought Lu Ten was an ass, he knew this information wouldn’t be easy to swallow.  
Lu Ten sighed in relief upon seeing them. “Thank Agni, you two are back. Can you let me up? I really have to pee.” Lu Ten said.

He took in Iroh’s upset face and Mako was sure he could read the pity splashed across his own.

“What?” Lu Ten asked, his face falling. “What did you find?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Saturday update? Yes, I will update tomorrow too and I might even update on Wednesday because I have the week off and not a damn thing to do with it cause QUARAINTINE! Why not take a different week off? Mental health. It's important and I'm about to loose it at work. ~~Also my cat's being put down this Tuesday and I'm not crying at work about it.~~ Writing this story works as a good distraction. I'm writing the last chapter of arc two today so I'm going to finish posting arc one tomorrow. It's just this chapter and the next.
> 
> Anyway...
> 
> You know when you're writing and something is brewing in the background between the characters and it's not something you planned on addressing till later but then the characters just go, "No, we are going to address this now!" ? Yeah that was Iroh in this chapter, he was D O N E done with Lu Ten's passive aggressive behavior.
> 
> Now that Lu Ten has been placed in timeout to think about what he did, he'll be a better person, right? No, no, he won't, because he is a little shit.
> 
> [ Tumblr ](https://old-and-new-friends.tumblr.com/)


	9. Candle and Mirrors - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His Uncle tried to kill him. His country, his father, thinks he's dead. The Siege is falling back and evacuating. The journey to the colonies is filled with refugees and suffering. The colonies are oppressive and paranoia inducing.
> 
> Fire Lord Azulon is dead. All hail Fire Lord Ozai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Depressive episode, war, refugees, imperialisms, death of a grandparent.
> 
> This is part 2 of another double update. Chapter 8 was posted yesterday.

Lu Ten felt his stomach drop, as he read over the papers he was handed. His uncle tried to have him assassinated. Lu Ten couldn’t believe it. While, Lu Ten knew his uncle wasn’t fond of him he never would have thought him capable of something like this. Lu Ten was rather afraid of what else his uncle could be capable of.

What truly worried Lu Ten, was that these scraps of information, weren’t enough. His father wouldn’t believe it, his grandfather wouldn’t believe it. It would be Lu Ten’s word, against Ozai’s and with no hard evidence, Lu Ten would be the one in trouble, not his uncle.

Rozin and Mako were right, Lu Ten couldn’t go home. He’d die.

“Thank you,” Lu Ten said, softly. “This answers some of my questions, but it proves nothing.”

“What?” Mako said, reaching out to snatch the papers from Lu Ten.

Lu Ten moved them out of Mako’s reach.

“Look,” Lu Ten said. “We know that this shows my uncle is behind my assassination attempt because we know that Colonel Ryo, Captain Aoi, and Private Shaan were the ones who took me. We know what the men look like and Rozin pulled the names off this,” Lu Ten lifted the first paper. “This is nothing more than an order between a Colonel and two officers under him about increasing security in the camp to watch out for undesirables. Anyone who doesn’t know these three men tried to assassinate me, would assume it meant Earth Kingdom soldiers. This doesn’t tie these men together, anymore, than any other order sent between superiors and subordinates. We know better but this proves nothing.”

“This,” Lu Ten said, lifting the letter from his uncle. “Shows us that my uncle had correspondence with Private Shaan and yes that’s weird but this letter says nothing to anyone, who didn’t know Shaan was in on this. As a matter of fact, it almost looks as if my uncle is concerned and trying to help me. My father and grandfather would think me crazy, if I handed this to them and said Uncle Ozai is trying to kill me.”

Lu Ten lifted the last paper, the one Rozin found in the Captain’s tent. “I could, admittedly, take this back to my father and get Captain Aoi arrested and executed. This firmly condemns him as working with the Dai Li and Earth Kingdom military to plan my assassination. I could get him, but what’s the point. Captain Aoi isn’t the mastermind behind this. My uncle would still be alive and powerful enough to try again.”

Lu Ten swallowed hard. It felt like a knot had settled in the back of his throat. “Thank you,” he said again, “Truly, I mean that, but while this tells me exactly who I need to watch out for, it doesn’t prove anything, not to the people I need it to.”

Lu Ten looked up at Mako and Rozin and was surprised to see them both looking upset. Lu Ten had figured he had used up whatever charity the two felt towards him, well before now.

“But surely your father would listen to you if you explained,” Mako said.

Lu Ten shook his head, and surprisingly so did Rozin.

“No, probably not,” Rozin said, “The royal family doesn’t take kindly to people accusing them of things. If it was thought that Lu Ten was making accusations without reason, he would be challenged to an Agni Kai. Anyone in the family could challenge him to one for insulting a family member, from his uncle, to his grandfather and yes, even his own father.”

Lu Ten wasn’t sure how Rozin knew that, but he was none the less correct.

“My father loves his brother.” Lu Ten explained. “I’ve tried on numerous occasions to tell my father that Uncle Ozai makes me nervous but he never listened. I can’t trust that he would listen to me on this. Normally he’s kind and level headed but this battle has him on a short fuse. While I don’t think my father would ever challenge me to an Agni Kai, I don’t think in this situation, he would try to stop one from occurring should my grandfather or uncle challenge me. I can’t fight my grandfather. I wouldn’t want to and my uncle would kill me, if he challenged me.”

There was a lull in the conversation as Mako stared at Rozin and Lu Ten in horror. Rozin kicked at the ground before clinching his jaw. Lu Ten just felt numb to everything.

“I can’t go home,” Lu Ten whispered. “I don’t know what to do.”

The bag that Rozin had set down beside him was suddenly jerked into the air, startling Lu Ten. He watched as Mako slung the bag over his shoulder then reached a hand down.

Lu Ten just stared at the offered hand.

“Come on,” Mako said. “I still don’t like you, but you’re coming with us.”

With no other option available, and realizing with a dazed clarity that this was the safest place for him to be, Lu Ten grabbed his hand and let himself be pulled to his feet.

The walk back to the inn was silent. 

Mako marched determinedly in the front, Lu Ten’s bag slung over his shoulder and refusing to look back at the two men following him. He had buried the stolen armor on the hill top and Lu Ten wasn’t even upset as it sank into the ground.

Rozin trailed behind Lu Ten. He wasn’t sure if Rozin was making sure he didn’t run off or just wanted his wayward patient in his sight. Regardless, he followed behind, watching Lu ten like a hawk, as if he’d suddenly collapse on the ground bleeding.

When they reached their room, Lu Ten collapsed on the bed he had originally woken up on and immediately fell asleep. He didn’t get out of bed for the next few days and had it not been for Rozin and Mako, he probably would have starved. As it was, his body odor was getting bad.

Rozin was apparently of the same opinion. One second Lu Ten had been dozing in bed, the next he was on the floor with a waterbender standing over him.

Lu Ten noticed that an extra cot had been brought into the room at some point and that either Mako or Rozin had placed Flameo, his stuffed fire slug, on his bed. Lu Ten just hoped it wasn’t Mako, as his face burned with embarrassment.

“The entire room smells like an armpit because of you,” Rozin said tugging him into a standing position, “You’re getting a bath if I have to bathe you myself.”

As Rozin tugged Lu Ten down the hall, they passed the man who owned the inn. He patted Lu Ten on the shoulder.

“Glad to see you up,” the man said. “Even if your friend made you. You’ve been concerning everyone in the inn, boy.”

Lu Ten didn’t know what to say to that, but it didn’t matter because Rozin pulled Lu Ten into a room at the end of the hallway.

A bath basin sat on the floor of the room with towels and some spare clothes.

Lu Ten startled back when Rozin started pulling on his sweaty shirt. Lu Ten pushed him away, when he realized he had every intention of undressing Lu Ten himself. Lu Ten pulled his own clothes off, while Rozin turned back to the tub set up.

Once Lu Ten was unclothed he sat down in the tub. Rozin was serious about his threat to bathe him. Lu Ten wasn’t too worried about it, he was used to being bathed by others at the palace. The only thing that made him slightly nervous, was being bathed by a waterbender.

In the end, it only made taking a bath easier, when the person washing your hair could drag the water straight from the tub to rinse, rather than having to use a pitcher. Lu Ten fell into a daze, as Rozin washed sweat and dirt from his skin. The rhythmic movements of Rozin washing his hair again, most likely trying to remove the matted part in the back, nearly lulled him to sleep.

Then Mako came barreling into the room and any peace Lu Ten had managed to find, went hurtling out the window.

“Um hi?” Lu Ten said. “Maybe knock?”

Rozin snorted before washing the soap from Lu Ten’s hair.

“Why?” Mako said. “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen and you’re not stopping Rozin from taking a good long look. I doubt it’s that impressive anyway.”

“Mako,” Rozin said sharply, as Lu Ten stood from the tub. He grabbed Lu Ten’s shoulder and pushed him back down into the tub but it was enough for Mako to see exactly how impressive he actually was.

“Children,” Rozin said, with a sigh, “both of you.”

Mako’s face was extremely red. He was trying desperately not to look at Lu Ten’s anything. “Anyway, Rozin,” he called out.

“I’m not taking my pants off for you to measure mine,” Rozin replied, dryly.

“What?” Mako sputtered. “No, the Inn keeper’s wife wants to talk to you. Something about a well not working? I don’t know they wanted me to get the nice waterbending fellow, and I assume that’s you.”

Rozin groaned. “I’ll be back. Keep an eye on him,” Rozin said, as he walked towards the door.

“Keep an eye on him?” Mako asked. “What’s he going to do? Drown in less than a foot of water? He’s not a toddler.”

“Not with that much junk,” Rozin said on his way out. Mako sputtered again but didn’t manage a reply before Rozin was out of hearing range.

Lu Ten felt his face heat up. He probably shouldn’t have risen to Mako’s bait because now he was stuck, naked, in a room with the man. His clothes were by the door, and Rozin apparently wasn’t done bathing him. Lu Ten actually really needed to clean more intimate areas, he certainly wasn’t going to let Rozin do it but he didn’t really want to with Mako in the room.

In the end Rozin returned several minutes later, to Mako staring resolutely at the floor and Lu Ten tapping his fingers on the edge of the tub.

“Mako, go make yourself useful and get us some lunch. I’ll finish trying to get Lu Ten’s hair untangled before something nests in it,” Rozin said, not even acknowledging the two men’s awkwardness.

With Mako out of the room, Rozin handed him a soapy cloth. “Here, wash whatever,” he said, gesturing beneath the water, as he went back to washing Lu Ten’s hair.

When Rozin finally, decided Lu Ten was clean enough, Lu Ten got dressed in new, clean clothes. He felt human for the first time in days, as the two made their way down towards the restaurant part of the inn.

Mako was already sat at a booth in the corner, the same one as last time, with three plates of steaming dumplings.

“Foods free,” Mako said as they sat down. Rozin slid in beside Mako, leaving Lu Ten to slide into the booth opposite. “Inn keeper’s wife said she was grateful for the pretty waterbender’s help and glad to see the sad young man up and about.”

Lu Ten blushed again.

“I see you got his hair under control,” Mako said, shoving a whole dumpling in his mouth.

“Yes,” Rozin said, watching Mako out of the corner of his eye. “Every inch of him is squeaky clean now.”

Mako nearly choked on his dumpling. He finally managed to swallow it but his eyes were watering.

“I’m sorry, okay!” Mako said, his voice coming out slightly hoarse. “I shouldn’t have made that joke, now can we please stop talking about his penis?”

The last part came out too loud in the nearly empty restaurant. Rozin spit his coffee across the table at Lu Ten. Lu Ten would have been mad but honestly, he was laughing too hard to care.

Luckily for Mako, the only people in the restaurant were the owner’s themselves and a thin older man sat at a table in the corner. All three of them were staring at Mako.

Mako’s face went red again as he tried to sink down in the booth.

The moment was ended by a young woman running into the inn.

“Auntie! Uncle! You won’t believe the news!” She shouted, as she barreled into the room. “The Fire Nation Army is retreating from the wall!”

That drew everyone’s attention, as the woman slammed into the bar her uncle was stood behind.

“What?” Lu Ten asked, in shock. “How?”

The woman looked at him with a huge smile on her face. Lu Ten felt slightly sick. “My brother, works up on the wall,” she explained. “This morning the Fire Nation troops started packing up and leaving. My brother said that, apparently, a squadron of Earth Kingdom soldiers were sent from Full Moon Bay, they were going to box them in but offered to allow the Fire Nation to retreat before they did so. They decided to leave.”

She moved closer to their table as she spoke, her aunt, uncle and the old man in the corner following her. Lu Ten felt slightly trapped.

“Now, you guys didn’t hear this from me, but my brother says the real reason they left is because the Prince was killed,” She whispered softly.

“The Dragon of the West is dead?” Her uncle asked in surprise. Lu Ten’s stomach clinched for a moment.

“No, no,” she said. “His son, Lu something or other, was killed by Earth Kingdom soldiers. Rumor has it, they sent the General a lock of his son’s hair as proof that he was dead. He’s apparently been proclaimed missing in action for the past week or so.”

Lu Ten subtly reached up to his hair. It was still loose as he had never put it back up. At the back of his head, covered by the rest of his hair, was a spot shorter than the rest. He didn’t remember the Earth Kingdom soldier’s cutting it off but with horror, he did recall Captain Aoi brandishing a knife at him. He must have cut it. His father thought him dead.

“So, they left?” The inn keeper’s wife asked. “Just like that?”

The woman shrugged.

“They must have lost morale,” the old man said. “I travel a lot, being a merchant, and if what I’ve heard is true, the Crown Prince only had the one kid. They would have lost their next heir to the throne. The Dragon of the West’s younger brother is now second in line.”

Lu Ten felt his blood go cold as those words ignited a new fear in him. Ozai was second in line, if he wanted to be Fire Lord there were still two more people he had to remove first. His father was in danger, and he had no clue what to do about it.

Rozin and Mako were staring across the table at him in concern. Lu Ten was starting to feel clammy.

“Well,” the inn keeper said, “Good riddance, I’m glad they are leaving.”

His wife hit his shoulder. “That’s not nice. I love that they are leaving as much as you but some poor boy just died,” she said. “How old was he, do you know?”

Her niece shook her head in the negative, as the inn keeper muttered, “A lot of poor boys are dying,” under his breath.

“I think he’s in his thirties but I don’t know for sure,” she replied.

“Twenty-one,” Lu Ten said, under his breath.

“What?” the inn keeper’s wife asked.

“He was twenty-one,” Lu Ten repeated.

“And how do you know that?” the younger woman replied. She seemed slightly put out that she wasn’t the one with the gossip this time.

“We’re from the colonies,” Rozin answered, cutting across Lu Ten’s reply. “War children, you know how it goes.”

The other four people in the room nodded, their faces strained with pity. Lu Ten hated it. Lu Ten hated a lot of things right now.

The conversation ended after that, with the woman going off with her aunt and uncle and the merchant paying for his food and leaving.

Mako and Rozin stared across the table at Lu Ten. Lu ten’s mind felt a mess but he knew one thing, he was dead now, so he might as well make use of it.

“I want out of this fucking city,” Lu Ten said. “And I want to see the colonies. I want to know what’s going on. I’m tired of feeling lost. I’m tired of feeling ignorant. Most importantly, I’m tired of being lied to. I want the truth.”

Rozin and Mako turned to one another as if gaging each other’s thoughts. Finally, Rozin nodded and Mako said, “Then let’s hit the road. I know all the ways in and out of Ba Sing Se, we shouldn’t have an issue sneaking out. They aren’t really trying to keep people in.”

They left the next morning, the inn keeper’s wife kindly packing them a lunch to take with them.

“I put a bit extra in the young one’s,” she said, “I’ve seen how much food he can put away.”

Lu Ten blushed but thanked her, nearly knocking over a cabbage cart, owned by the merchant from last night, in his flustered state.

Mako took them around to a rail-line that ran to the east. From there, they followed it, for two and a half days, to the outer wall. Looking at the wall on this side of the city, you would never know that there was a gaping hole in the southern part.

Mako walked along the edge of the wall searching for something.

“There are hundreds of tunnels along the walls from where the city used to be half underground. Some earthbenders make a quick money helping refugees through them if they can’t get in the legal way,” Mako said. He finally stopped at a random spot near the wall.

“The tunnels already exist.” He explained. “It’s just a matter of finding the hole in the ground and opening it up.”

“How do you know all this?” Lu Ten asked.

“I knew a loud mouth who knew a lot about the city,” Mako explained. Despite his less than kind description, he sounded rather fond of whoever he was talking about.

Mako slammed his foot down on the ground. At first, nothing happened, but then the earth collapsed in on itself as a tunnel opened up.

They followed the tunnel under the wall and came back up in a field surrounded by forests. Mako then lead them north. He oddly kept glancing up to the sun as if trying to gain his directional bearings. Lu Ten thought only Fire Nation non-benders did that. 

They rested that night in the forest. Rozin cooked. Lu Ten wasn’t sure how he felt about the salty flavoring. It wasn’t the spices of home but it was better than the tart tastes of certain Earth Kingdom foods.

The next morning Mako lead them to a river, where illegal ferries would take you across the Serpent’s River. Lu Ten asked Mako if there was actually a serpent in the river. His response of, “In the river? No,” wasn’t very reassuring.

The men who ran the boats were nice enough, and Rozin somehow got them a discount across. They were apparently humored that someone wanted to go away from Ba Sing Se for once.

The men dropped them off upstream, towards the mouth of the river. Lu Ten wondered why they didn’t just take them across the bay but considering it was called the Serpent’s Bay, he could take a guess.

They walked through a path in the woods that had clearly been carved out by hundreds of people passing through. At first, Lu Ten was confused as to how that many people ended up coming in this direction, as it was in the middle of nowhere. Then he realized, if this was a way to get to the colonies, it was also a way to get away from them. Lu Ten felt slightly dizzy when he realized that the hundreds of people who carved out this path, were running from his people.

They reached a second river the next day but ended up camping along the bank, as the sun sank down. Mako and Rozin both cooked that night. Mako was tired of salty foods, apparently preferring spices himself. He had stolen Rozin’s flavoring salts that morning, so now Rozin was forced to make it spicy.

He made it too spicy, and that was coming from a firebender. Lu Ten was amazed at the fact that Rozin was able to sit across from them and eat the food with no difficulty. Mako took one bite and nearly breathed fire despite being an earthbender. He pushed the bowl to the side and handed Rozin his salts back before retreating to his sleeping bag. Lu Ten ate it but something told him his stomach was going to get him back for it later.

The river was called the Wading River. Lu Ten quickly figured out why, as Mako wrapped their bags in waterproof traps and started walking across the river with little concern. The river never came higher than Lu Ten’s knees and a small island in the middle offered a place to rest before walking across the other half.

From there, Rozin took over navigation, Mako’s knowledge of the area running out. 

Lu Ten felt his stomach sink as their journey took them across the path of many refugees. Some were in caravans, others traveled alone. Lu Ten saw both old and young make the dangerous trek across the Earth Kingdom. Small children who were too young to understand ran around playing, while their slightly older siblings sat in a silence unnatural for their age.

Lu Ten had grown up in the Fire Nation and he had never seen as many burn scars as he saw on their four day walk across the peninsula. The youngest he saw burns on was three, Lu Ten was six when he first burned himself.

Every time Lu Ten would pause to watch someone, Rozin and Mako would stop with him. They never said anything but Lu Ten knew they were giving him the space to take everything in. Rozin, at the very least, wanted him to understand just what the Fire Nation was doing. Lu Ten was starting to understand, it was with horror, that he realized he hadn’t even seen the worst of it.

Their travels were mostly done in silence, Lu Ten trying to take in everything he was seeing while Rozin and Mako gave him space. Rozin and Mako didn’t talk to each other much, for supposed best friends, though that may have been due to a recent building tension between the two.

They finally reached the third and final river. This river practically raged towards the bay. Apparently, it ran from the artic, all the way down to the bay which gave it the name Cold Water River.

Lu Ten stuck his hand in the river to test the temperature. It was freezing. He heard laughter from behind him and turned to see Mako and Rozin watching him. His face flushed.

“No, no,” Rozin said. “Don’t feel bad. We weren’t laughing at you. Curiosity is a good thing. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Lu ten didn’t feel much better at that and was glad when a ferry arrived to take them across to the Ruins of Taku. As they made the final march through the mountain valleys, Lu Ten took in the absolute destruction caused by the Fire Nation. Taku, once a bustling city of great economic importance, was nothing but rubble.

They reached a colony town three days after they arrived at Taku.

Before they entered the town Mako and Rozin changed into more Fire Nation style clothing, Rozin even pulled his hair into a top knot. Lu Ten didn’t bother asking why. 

He should have.

At first Lu Ten didn’t notice anything different, from any other town he had been in but that was the problem. So far, the only towns Lu Ten had spent much time in, had been Fire Nation towns. The people in the streets were dressed in red. They spoke the Fire Nation language, in Fire Nation accents.

Lu Ten didn’t see anyone dressed in the green and brown tones of the Earth Kingdom. 

Mako lead them to a bar. Inside, Lu Ten heard someone speak in an Earth Kingdom accent for the first time but they still spoke the Fire Nation’s language.

The bar was nearly empty. Only the owner and a group of soldiers were inside. The soldiers were laughing and cutting up in the corner, as the bar owner shot them nervous looks. When Lu Ten, Mako and Rozin approached him he watched them nervously, too.

He didn’t seem at all reassured when Mako asked for some food and the location of an inn. He gave them the food immediately, but hesitated greatly before naming an inn.

Lu Ten started feeling afraid himself, as they walked from the bar to the inn. He saw more signs of Earth Kingdom citizens as he walked. Business, open but with fewer customers, people locked up in their homes, peering through the curtains on occasion.

Paranoia was starting to get to Lu Ten, as he started looking over his own shoulder at Mako and Rozin, just to make sure they were both still there. He wasn’t sure why it took him so long to notice the soldiers standing at every street corner but the people that once made him feel safe, suddenly made him feel trapped.

The inn keeper wasn’t pleased to see them. Rozin said something that caused them to calm slightly. The pity on their face told Lu Ten, that Rozin claimed them as war children again.

Lu Ten had a hard time going to bed that night. He could see lights passing the windows occasionally, as Fire Nation guards patrolled the streets, flames held aloft in the hands of the firebending one. Lu Ten knew from his own training, that it was just as much a threat to burn someone, as it was a light to see by.

Mako and Rozin stayed up with him. He wasn’t sure if it was in solidarity or if they too couldn’t sleep here. Lu Ten took a better look at Mako. He couldn’t image what growing up in a place like this would be like.

“It’s not as bad,” Mako said, correctly reading the questioning look on Lu Ten’s face. “My hometown. We never rebelled against the Fire Nation. We just,” he paused as if searching for the right words, “let them do what they wanted. We didn’t want trouble. They left us be for the most part after that. This town? Probably fought back. Now the Fire Nation has them pinned and is keeping them down. You probably aren’t going to fine an earthbender here.”

“What about-“ Lu Ten started to ask.

“Walls have ears,” Rozin said, shaking his head. “There are no earthbenders in this town.”

He pointedly looked at Mako and Lu Ten got the message loud and clear. He faked sleep after that, so did the other two.

Overnight something happened. When the three woke up in the morning white flags with gold trim were hanging at half-mast at every flag pole in the city. Lu Ten’s heart stopped. He knew they weren’t for him. He had died too long ago.

They made their way towards the town center, where everyone was gathering. The soldier in the center of the town spoke.

“Today we mourn the loss of Fire Lord Azulon. Leader of our nation for seventy-five years, hero of the Battle of Garsai, conqueror of the Hu Xin Provinces. Father of Iroh, father of Ozai, husband of Ilah, now passed. Grandfather of Lu Ten, now passed. Grandfather of Zuko and Azula. May he rest in peace. As per his dying wish, he is to be succeeded by his second son. All hail, Fire Lord Ozai.”

Lu Ten felt his blood boil. He wasn’t sure how his uncle got his father out of the way but Lu Ten had no doubt that his uncle was responsible for his grandfather’s death.

Lu Ten was mad. He was mad at his uncle. He was mad at the Fire Nation soldiers that repeated back “All hail, Fire Lord Ozai”. He was mad at the Fire Nation in general, as he looked around at the unenthused faces of the Earth Kingdom citizens as they repeated back “All hail, Fire Lord Ozai”. He was mad at his family. He was mad at himself.

His father once told him, "There are two sources of light. The candle, and the mirror that reflects it." Lu Ten always though he was the mirror his country’s light reflected off of, now he realized he was wrong. There was no light. So, he would just have to make one.

He marched off from the gathering, Mako and Rozin at his tail. When he reached their room, he finally turned to them. 

“You were right,” he said. “You were right. We aren’t saving the world, we’re destroying it. If my uncle can kill me and his own father with no guilt, I can’t even imagine what he’s about to do to the world. I’m going to stop him. I don’t know how, but I will.”

Mako pulled a gold piece out of his pocket and slid it to Rozin. “I don’t even regret losing that bet,” Mako said. “Now you’re talking Princeling. What are we doing first?”

“Getting out of here,” Lu Ten said, slinging his bag over his shoulder, “Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a nightmare to write. So much had to go into it. But hey! Lu Ten's a good guy now right? No. He's still confused. Sorry.
> 
> This is the last chapter in Arc 1. Arc 2 starts with chapter 10 and we will be hearing from Lu Ten again. He just has a lot to say.
> 
> [ Tumblr ](https://old-and-new-friends.tumblr.com/)


	10. Reality Check - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten realizes saving the world isn't an easy task while Rozin and Mako pull him in different directions. His first act of rebellion comes with some major consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Imperialism, Manipulative behavior (from Iroh/Rozin), implied background character death, discussion of war between to soldiers

Lu Ten was starting to realize saving the world was easier said than done. 

The three men had left the town in a hurry, it was no place to plan a revolution but Lu Ten didn’t take them far. He had plans for that town, or well, he had a broad idea of what he wanted from the town. He just had to figure out how to do it.

It didn’t help that the only people he had, even remotely, on his side, weren’t really helping him at all.

Mako, who had at first seemed excited at the idea of fixing things, was slowly falling back into his typical irritated mood, the longer nothing happened. Lu Ten kind of missed the excited man that had been around for the first few days after leaving the colony. Now, Mako seemed of the opinion that Lu Ten wasn’t capable of keeping his promise to stop his uncle. Lu Ten planned to prove him wrong.

Rozin on the other hand kept watching Lu Ten. He seemed to be trying to gauge Lu Ten’s behavior, but for what, remined a mystery. He was starting to make Lu Ten feel paranoid, as every time he turned around, Rozin was watching him from across their camp.

It didn’t help that the passive aggressive behavior the two men had picked up on the way here, was still in full force. Lu Ten still didn’t know what had the two friends at odds with each other.

They stayed like this for nearly a week before Lu Ten finally snapped.

“Look,” Lu Ten said, over breakfast one morning. Mako was brooding slightly away from the other two and Rozin was still staring. “I don’t know what you two are expecting to happen but I’ve never planned a rebellion before so I’m struggling a bit here and neither of you are helping.”

Now Rozin was staring and tilting his head. That quirk was really starting to get on Lu Ten’s nerves. Mako just scoffed.

Lu Ten felt his stomach turn. “I’m trying,” he said, desperately. “I’m really trying here. I know I still don’t have the full picture but I’m trying to fix things. I don’t know how. I wasn’t exactly taught peace and saving people. I know that town needs to be liberated but I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how to stop my uncle and I don’t know how to take on an entire country by myself. Any advice would be great here but so far you’ve both proven as useless as myself.”

“Excuse me?” Mako questioned, but before he could continue, Rozin placed his hand on his arm.

“You’re trying to find an instantaneous solution to a problem that took nearly a hundred years to create,” Rozin finally said. “You won’t find one. I’ve been waiting, to see if you actually meant what you said, or if you merely said it in the heat of the moment. This isn’t something you’re going to fix in time for dinner, Lu Ten. You need to understand, that if you do this, we are going to be in it for the long run. I’m talking literal years here, just to liberate this one colony. It’s been around for eighty-nine years. It’s not going anywhere without a serious fight and there’s only three of us. I think both you, and Mako, too, need to understand that. There isn’t much we can do.”

Lu Ten felt his heart sink to his stomach. “I know it will take time but surely, it won’t take years. We just have to get the Fire Nation to leave. We just need to get the people there to fight back.” Lu Ten replied back.

“Yeah,” Mako agreed. “Getting the people to uprise should be easy enough. Then they can protect themselves. I’ve seen it happen before. Amon managed to do it, even if that didn’t work in our favor, and we helped people uprise against Kuvira!”

Lu Ten had no clue who those people were but if they helped make their case, he wasn’t going to question it. Rozin seemed to know exactly what Mako was talking about and shook his head.

“That’s not going to work long term, Mako,” Rozin said. “Both of the instances you are referring to, were instances that were both short-lived and well supplied from the outside. These people, with our help, may be able to get their town back but the likelihood of them keeping it, without supplies, military and the end of the war, is extremely low. Lu Ten, you’re a trained solider just as much as I am. What’s the policy for rebellion from a colony?”

Lu Ten closed his eyes. “Increase soldier population, increase restrictions on the movements of certain demographics of colony members, increase taxes, decrease tolerance for misbehaviors, decrease rations,” Lu Ten answered, the words fell from his lips like a mantra. He had to memorized it in training, after all.

“Exactly,” Rozin said. “You’ll just get them in more trouble.”

“But,” Mako said, “We have to do something!”

“Mako, I know as an officer, you have seen a lot a bad things happen, and have come across a lot of bad people. I don’t want you to think I’m belittling that but this situation really is different. You can’t just lock all the Fire Nation soldiers up in jail and make them go away. They just send more. They always send more.” Rozin said, gently.

Mako paused for a moment, something about what Rozin just said made him mad. Lu Ten wanted to ask when he would have been an officer, from what Lu Ten had learned of him, he didn’t seem like he had the time before he would have met Rozin. He seemed deep in contemplation though, so Lu Ten left him to it and turned to Rozin instead.

“So, what can we do to get the Fire Nation to leave?” Lu Ten asked. He was starting to think this entire situation was hopeless.

“Short of running to the Fire Nation, attempting to kill your uncle and taking the throne yourself? Nothing really,” Rozin said, with a shrug. “Liberation only works if you can keep it liberated. These people have already been taken out by the Fire Nation once, they aren’t going to survive if they lose again.”

“Reminds me of cartels,” Mako said, abruptly.

“What?” Lu Ten and Rozin asked.

“Cartels and gangs, things like that,” Mako said. “You could catch one and lock them in jail but until you got the big boss, and the big boss back up, and the big boss back up’s back up, you didn’t really stop anything. You don’t fight those types of people by rounding up their underlings, not if you actually want them off the street. You have to aim for the top of the food chain, which isn’t easy, as they usually hide and keep themselves in places you can’t find. So, you have to play underhanded. Break supply chains, gain insider intel either from spying or finding someone willing to blow the whistle, so to speak. Then get the boss when the opportunity arises. I get what Rozin’s talking about now, and as much as I hate to admit it, his logic’s sound. We can’t outright fight for these people, not with any permanency or policy change.”

Lu Ten was starting to wonder just where Mako was from, that a colony had that many issues with cartels and gangs. Short of a city the size of Caldera or North Chung-Ling, something like that would be hard pressed to set up.

Rozin was nodding along to what Mako said. “He’s right,” Rozin said. “Just because we can’t liberate the town doesn’t mean we can’t make it more difficult for them to be suppressed. You can set up things like underground communication networks, you can cut off enemy supply chains, you can help the people leave, but in a place like this, where the Fire Nation has such a strong hold on the area and the areas surrounding it, you aren’t going to liberate it short of ordering the soldiers away.”

“Liberation, might work in towns towards the middle of the Earth Kingdom, where the Fire Nation is still struggling to gain a foothold, but it won’t work here.” Rozin continued. “If you want to head back in land, we may make a difference in this war by stalling the Fire Nation’s ability to gain more colonies. Though I wouldn’t recommend it, it wouldn’t stop them as much as you would think. I know you don’t want to hear this but it’s a waiting game, Lu Ten, not a fighting one. Not, yet.”

“But how long do we wait?” Lu Ten asked. His eyes wide. “If I can’t beat my uncle now, how will I manage it in a few years?”

Rozin fell silent. He rested his chin in his hand and looked down towards the ground. 

“It’s not about if you’re able to beat him in a fair fight, at this point,” Mako answered. “It’s about finding a time when he’s weak enough to stick out at him, then clean up any mess afterward.”

“But that might never happen!” Lu Ten shouted. “And even if it does, outside of an Agni Kai it might not be upheld.”

Mako just shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know, then” Mako said.

“It will happen,” Rozin assured. “No one is invincible one-hundred percent of the time. Even if it comes to an Agni Kai, he can still be made vulnerable. While we wait for the right moment for attack, we can still make a difference. We can make allies and build communication lines overtime. There are many people who are likeminded to us who would help, who are already helping, we just need to find them. We also need to improve our fighting abilities. Mako and I aren’t the best benders, we know the forms but had no ability to practice them. Truthfully, though, to your original question, I can’t tell you how long we need to wait, either.”

Rozin was lying about the last part. Lu Ten could tell he was lying but not what he was lying about. There was nothing to lie about, other than knowing how long the wait would be and why would he lie about that? 

Rozin was odd and it made Lu Ten majorly suspicious. The man knew too much he shouldn’t know and lied about the strangest things. Rozin was both clueless about social norms yet greatly attune to people’s body language and inner thoughts. He was manipulative but not in a malicious way, as far as Lu Ten could tell. He kind of reminded him of his Uncle Ozai in a way, though not murderous and malevolent, at least Lu Ten hoped he wasn’t. Lu Ten, still, didn’t know what to make of the man. He was pretty sure the man might be psychic.

Rozin sighed before saying, “It’s been nearly a hundred year waiting game for the rest of the world, Lu Ten, welcome to the horror that is not knowing when the war destroying everything will end. We can have big dreams of stopping Ozai, but we need to be practical about it. That’s all I am saying. If you want to help this town, we can try but liberating it isn’t an option and the best thing to do right now is to leave it alone.”

Lu Ten grunted. None of that was helpful in the least. He still felt just as lost in this as he had before asking the two men for help.

“I’m going for a walk,” Lu Ten said.

Before he cleared the fire pit, Rozin gently grabbed his arm. “I know it’s hard, but doing the right thing isn’t easy, and you are doing the right thing, Prince Lu Ten. Know that if nothing else.”

“Don’t call me that,” Lu Ten said, snatching his arm away. “I’m not a Prince anymore.”

“You are,” Rozin said softly, but Lu Ten ignored him.

Lu Ten made eye contact with Mako on his way towards the woods. Instead of the usual hostility, he could see his own helplessness mirrored in the older man’s eyes. He looked away.

It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. He just wanted to fix it all but he apparently couldn’t even do that. Rozin and Mako’s ideas bounced around his head but they would take so long, and the world needed peace now. No, the world needed peace nearly a hundred years ago. How could Lu Ten, could Mako and Rozin, just sit back and allow it to continue suffering. Surely, Rozin could see that even a small setback for the Fire Nation was still a setback. Lu Ten couldn’t figure out why he was so resistant to the idea of fighting back.

Lu Ten looked up as he passed a building. He hadn’t realized he had walked this far, or even that he had walked in the direction of the town. He probably shouldn’t have walked off on his own in an area he didn’t know.

Well, he was here now, so he might as well look around more. The town still, a week later, had white flags hanging everywhere. At first Lu Ten tried to avoid looking at them but that soon became impossible. They were everywhere you looked, almost as if mocking Lu Ten’s failure to protect his family.

He watched the people of the town go about their business. It was easy to tell who was Fire Nation and who was Earth Kingdom, even without the clothing differences. Fire Nation citizens walked with their heads up, eyes engaged with those they came across and with little care for where they stepped. Next to them, those from the Earth Kingdom walked with their eyes to the ground, only looking up to make sure no one was watching them and to keep from mis-stepping.

Lu Ten lost count of how many he’d startled by staring at them. He should probably stop.

Fire Nation children bounced along at their parent’s heels and ran about with little care, while Earth Kingdom kids huddled close to their parents and held tightly to their hands.

Soldiers stood at the doors of some shops, yet others were left alone. As, he walked further up the street he noticed something he had missed last time, not a single shop in the town sold Earth Kingdom food. The tart breads and sweet noodles, Lu Ten had gotten used to from the inn in Ba Sing Se, were missing. Instead they were replaced with Fire Flake stands and spiced meats.

Usually, the smells made him hungry or nostalgic, particularly the smell of chile lime papaya that drifted through the air, but now it was making his stomach turn.  
Lu Ten was too busy desperately searching the shop fronts for any type of Earth Kingdom food, to notice where he was going. He slammed into a guard outside of a clothing store.

“Hey,” The soldier said, good naturedly. “Watch were you’re going. You could injure someone.”

“Sorry,” Lu Ten said, before starting to walk off.

“Don’t worry about it,” The guard said, waving him away. “Just be more mindful.”

Lu Ten nodded but turned around quickly when he heard a shout. At the next shop over, also heavily guarded, two soldiers had an old man pinned to the ground. The guard who just spoke to Lu Ten ran over to help.

“What’s the problem,” the guard asked.

“Old man’s bumping into people,” one of the other’s replied. “Might be drunk if he’s that uncoordinated.”

The first guard nodded before helping the other guards arrest the elderly man. Lu Ten saw red.

“Wait a minute!” Lu Ten yelled, running over. “You can’t arrest him for bumping into people, when you just let me go not even a minute ago for the same thing.”

“Look kid,” the first guard said. “You need to mind you own business, as well as, where you’re walking. This old man is clearly drunk and you have nothing to do with it. You’re a good upstanding young man, I’m sure, you’ve got a good background but you don’t need to concern yourself with the likes of him.”

“Why?” Lu Ten demanded. His voice took on the inflection he gave it when ordering the soldiers under him. It was the voice of a Prince used to being listened to. Apparently, the guards weren’t a fan of his attitude.

“Kid, either leave now, or you’re going to find yourself in a world of hurt. We don’t normally have to take citizens like you down but we will.” The second guard said.

“Citizens like me, what’s that supposed to mean?” Lu Ten asked. “What’s the difference between him and me?”

Lu Ten had started to gather a crowed of both Earth Kingdom citizens and Fire Nation ones. The Earth Kingdom citizens looked on in slight fascination, like Lu Ten was an exotic animal they had never seen before, while the Fire Nation citizens looked scandalized that one of their own would say such a thing. It was obvious to them what the difference was, and a few weeks ago Lu Ten would have thought the same.

Lu Ten hit the ground, as more guards came to arrest him too. He didn’t stay down long, launching back up onto his feet and kicking out with fire. It was his lucky day, as the guards who watch storefronts, didn’t appear to be firebenders. They ducked his flames and backed away, one running off, to most likely to get a firebending guard.

“You can’t just arrest people like that,” Lu Ten said, fire cupped in his hand, in an attempt to ward off the guards. “He didn’t do anything. You don’t have the right to dictate these people like this.” 

Lu Ten saw out of the corner of his eyes that his words had caught the attention of several young Earth Kingdom men.

“You’re supposed to protect them. You’re not supposed to hurt them and arrest them for no reason.” Lu Ten shouted.

The guards laughed. “Kid, where did you get that idea? We are here to protect our citizens and to keep order in the colonies. Order this man has disrupted.”

“They are our citizens too and disrupted what? He bumped into someone!” Lu Ten said. “Let the man up.”

“Cease and desist,” a woman said, from behind Lu Ten. They had found a firebender. She walked with a purpose towards Lu Ten. Her hand already ignited in a threating manner.

“Not until you let that man up,” Lu Ten replied.

She walked closer, not throwing the fire gathered in her palm. It took Lu Ten a moment to realize she was waiting for him to throw his fire first. Well, she’d be disappointed.

She and Lu Ten stared each other down. Lu Ten didn’t budge and finally she dropped the fire.

“Let the old man up, it’s his store anyway,” she said. “Accidents happen.”

Lu Ten didn’t like the inflection she put on those last two words. He had a bad feeling about it.

“You though,” she said, gesturing towards Lu Ten. “I want a word with you.”

Lu Ten hesitantly followed her. She started walking towards the direction Lu Ten had originally come from. Despite being half his size, she had a quick pace that had Lu Ten putting in effort to keep up.

“I don’t know who you are or where you came from,” She said, “but I know it’s not from here or any other colony. If you’re from the mainland, my suggestion is to go home and take your two little friends with you. Don’t think for one second, we don’t know you three are camping up on that hill over there. I don’t know what you three are planning but if any of you step foot in this colony again, I will put you down. Got it?”

Lu Ten clinched his teeth but nodded.

“Good,” she said, “Enjoy the show.”

Lu Ten didn’t know what she meant by that but he didn’t have time to figure it out. He waited till she rounded the corner before running back towards their camp.

“They know we are up here,” Lu Ten yelled, as he slammed through the trees surrounding the camp.

Mako and Rozin both jumped at his outburst. Mako dropped the plate he was washing.

“Of course, they do,” Rozin said, hand over his chest. “But we haven’t done anything to make them suspicious of us, so they should leave us alone. Don’t worry about it.”

Lu Ten was panting. “What?” He asked. “You knew, they knew?”

“Yeah,” Mako replied. “It’s guarding basics to keep an eye out for potential threats. Why wouldn’t they know three people, they don’t know, are camping right outside of the colony in plain sight?”

Oh, right, that made since. Lu Ten knew that, he had learned that in training, he had just never seen it applied in practice.

“Okay, well,” Lu Ten said, “Um, I might have made them suspicious?”

Rozin and Mako stared at him blankly.

“What?” Mako asked. “You were gone two and a half hours at most. What could you have possibly done?”

Lu Ten sheepishly explained what happened as Rozin and Mako looked at him like he was a dumb. Lu Ten could admit, outside of the heat of the moment, what he did was pretty thoughtless.

As Lu Ten was explaining what the soldier had told him before he left town, Rozin pushed past him.

“Oh, no,” he said, looking out towards the colony.

They had picked the hill to settle on because of its vantage point of the town. It would allow them to monitor it, as well as be able to see any upcoming threats. Now, it offered a great vantage point to watch the old man’s shop burn to the ground.

The female soldier’s voice echoed in Lu Ten’s ears.

Accidents happen. 

Enjoy the show. 

Lu Ten was going to be sick.

“Damnit, Lu Ten,” Mako shouted. “This was exactly the thing we didn’t want to happen.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Lu Ten said desperately.

“It doesn’t matter what you meant to do,” Mako yelled. “It’s what you did. That man might be dead now, that colony is about to have serious repercussion brought down on it, and we can’t fix it.”

“I’m sorry,” Lu Ten said quietly.

“Sorry doesn’t-” Mako sighed. “You still just don’t get it, Lu Ten. You see the problem and you want to make it stop but you can’t stop it with brute force! We told you that already. If it was that simple then there wouldn’t be a problem right now. You need to wake up.”

With that Mako stormed off.

Lu Ten stood in shock at Mako’s parting words.

He messed up. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to fix it. His hands were shaking.

He jumped when Rozin placed his hand on his elbow. Lu Ten looked down at the waterbender, worried for a moment that he was about to tear into him too. For once, the masks Rozin wore were gone and pure empathy and pity were splashed across his face.

“Why do you want to stop the Fire Nation?” Rozin asked, his head tilted, once again.

Lu Ten looked at him in surprise. “What?” Lu Ten asked. “Because, they shouldn’t be doing things like that! It’s wrong!”

“And?” Rozin prompted. He stared into Lu Ten’s eyes as if he could read his soul.

“And what?” Lu Ten asked, impatiently. “Do I need any more reasons?”

“No,” Rozin said, “But I think you have them. You aren’t doing this for purely altruistic reasons. You’re mad at your uncle, and you’re mad at your people. They lied to you. Mostly you’re mad at yourself, though because you lied to you, too. You feel guilty, don’t you?”

Lu Ten didn’t answer. Instead he just stared at the man next to him, wondering if reading minds was a waterbending ability or just something Rozin picked up in his travels. Why did he want to know that Lu Ten felt guilty?

“I’ve been there,” Rozin said, as if reading Lu Ten’s mind. “That guilt, of knowing your people hurt others with little to no remorse, if they felt any, is heavy. I’ve watched it eat away at people, like my own mother and grandfather, for entire lifetimes. It’s also useless to these people. You want an instantaneous answer to this issue because you want that guilt to go away but any instantaneous answer you find, won’t be the right one. If trying to soothe your guilt is the only reason you are doing this, you need to stop now before you get someone else killed.”

Lu Ten flinched.

Rozin smiled a brittle smile. “First time being responsible for the death of a civilian?” Rozin asked. “I’ve been there, too. It kills you inside, a bit more every time.”

Lu Ten nodded, then shook his head. “No, not really, I’m sure I killed others without knowing it. This was just the first time I really got up close to the civilian I got killed.” Lu Ten answered.

“Well, at least you can admit that much,” Rozin said, patting him on the back.

Lu Ten hesitated. “This was also the first time, I really acknowledged that the person on the other side was just as human as I was,” Lu Ten admitted. He felt slightly sick as he said it. It wasn’t a good thing to admit to but somehow, he figured Rozin might just understand how awful Lu Ten felt about this, even if he himself had never experienced the same.

Rozin was quiet for a while, long enough for Lu Ten to think he made a mistake in admitting what he did.

“It’s better,” Rozin started, his voice sounded stressed. He licked his lips, before biting down on the bottom one. When he finally released his bottom lip, he said, “It’s better to realize something like that later, than to never realize it at all, but yeah, that’s pretty bad, Lu. Don’t say that to Mako.”

Lu Ten startled at the nickname but before he could continue the conversation, Rozin waved him off. Lu Ten had apparently used up all of Rozin’s people skills for the day.

The waterbender walked off, closing out the conversation and plopped down next to the smoldering fire. “Light this for me, so I can cook lunch.”

Lu Ten startled at the abrupt topic change, but to be fair to Rozin, there really was no saving that conversation.

“Shouldn’t we leave?” Lu Ten asked.

Rozin shrugged. “Not much point, they know we are up here and they told us loud and clear what will happen if we come back down to the colony. Might as well stay, they won’t do anything till we do. Mako and I just have to be careful not to bend, because they are definitely watching us at this point.” He replied, nodding towards a watchtower that Lu Ten couldn’t believe he never noticed.

Lu Ten nodded and lit the fire. He watched the flames as they flickered and jumped underneath the pan Rozin placed over it. The flickering light made him feel slightly better the more he watched it. The log popped and the flame burned brighter for a moment. Lu Ten breathed in, carrying the smoke of the fire deep into his lungs. When he exhaled out of his mouth, he could feel small sparks dancing along his tongue. 

He had worried when he first burned his throat that he would never be able to perform the breath of fire again but Rozin managed to heal everything just fine. Lu Ten’s voice was gruffer, than it used to be and the scar across his forehead was now a permanent fixture of his face, but at least his bones weren’t broken anymore.  
Lu Ten was brought out of his trance when he sneezed and the fire flared high. Had Rozin not backed away from the fire when he did, he would have been burned.

“Meditating?” Rozin asked, laughter clear in his voice.

“Huh?” Lu Ten replied.

“The fire,” Rozin said, “it was moving with your breaths, including your sneeze. Were you meditating? Do you feel better?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to but,” Lu Ten paused as he thought about it, “yeah, I think I do feel a bit better.”

“Good,” Rozin said. “Now go get Mako, so we can eat lunch.”

Lu Ten’s eyes went wide. “I’d rather take my chances with the soldiers.” Lu Ten replied.

Rozin rolled his eyes. “Go get Mako, you two need to figure out some common ground or you’re going to kill all three of us.” Rozin said.

“How would Mako and I arguing kill you?” Lu Ten asked, in an attempt to stall. He really didn’t want to have to face Mako. “Besides, don’t you and Mako need to make up, too?”

“I’d die from annoyance,” Rozin replied, dryly. “Mako and I are fine. Now go, I’m not your mother, stop making me baby you.”

Lu Ten sighed but nonetheless took off in the same direction as Mako. Hopefully the earthbender would already have calmed down and be content enough to just go back to ignoring Lu Ten’s existence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Update because I felt like it.
> 
> I'm home for the week and I have gotten ahead in my writing so I'm not to concerned with posting early. my Sunday update might be late Sunday cause I'm going camping and won't have my computer. It will however come on Sunday.
> 
> Question (semi-spoiler): Lu Ten will eventually learn who his travel companions are, should he continued to address Iroh as Rozin in his PoV or start addressing him as Iroh? As it stands now he's started calling him Iroh in his PoV but I figured I'd see what you all think because I keep going back and forth.
> 
> [ Tumblr ](https://old-and-new-friends.tumblr.com/)


	11. Building Bridges - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako is tired of having to deal with Princes. If he thought Wu was bad when they first meet, it was nothing on the two Princes of the Fire Nation, Mako now had to deal with. At least Wu was just annoying back then, these two were something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Word treated as a slude mentioned, Lu Ten having a mental breakdown, slight mention/implication of suicidal ideation towards middle of chapter (Lu Ten apparently isn't doing as great as expected).
> 
> Edit (13 May 2020): changed dialogue tag at end of story from Mako to Iroh as Iroh was supposed to be the one speaking. ("No, it's relatively small")

Mako marched away from the campsite. This entire situation was pissing him off, Lu Ten’s actions today just being the tipping point.

Mako was tired of being in this time period and having to travel, with not just one Prince but two of them. Mako thought Iroh would be easier to get along with than he was proving. He was awkward and quiet, which Mako thought would leave little room for someone to piss him off but Iroh more than managed.

It started shortly after Mako stole Iroh’s flavored salts, though that particular incident was wrapped up rather nicely with Iroh’s spice revenge. No, what really set him off happened the next day, when Iroh started discussing his plans. Up until then Mako had no clue what Iroh was planning, only that it had to do with breaking Lu Ten free from Fire Nation propaganda.

When Iroh did finally tell Mako his plan, he was less than impressed.

Apparently, Iroh’s plan was to do nothing, other than convince Lu Ten to not be a bigot, than help him ascend the throne so he could handle the Hundred Year War clean up, rather than the sixteen-year-old. The fact that this was Iroh’s only plan and he called Mako and Lu Ten idealistic, only pissed Mako off more.

Iroh was a General, and also a Prince, so he was used to being listened to. Well Mako had listened but he wasn’t too fond of what he was hearing. Him questioning Iroh’s plan, namely his ideas for Lu Ten, lead to Mako and Iroh making a bet over Lu Ten’s ability to change.

He thought it was a sucker’s bet, that Lu Ten would keep burying his head in the sand and would find more and more excuses to not believe them, turned out he was the sucker. At least, he thought he was, when he first gave Iroh the money. Now, he thinks he may have paid up too soon, because Lu Ten still wasn’t getting it and Mako had no clue how to make him understand why what he’s trying to do isn’t helpful to anyone.

Mako wanted to believe in Lu Ten, he really did. Lu Ten was having a pretty shit life right now and Mako felt for him. He had watched him closely as he took in all the tragedy and despair the Fire Nation left behind as they moved from Ba Sing Se to the colonies. Lu Ten had the spirit in him somewhere, Mako had seen it during their travels but he just kept missing the mark. He truly believed for a moment, as Lu Ten stood in front of him and Iroh, with all 6’5 of him trembling with rage at his uncle and countrymen, that they had, finally, found the person lurking under the imperialist.

Mako surprised himself with how disappointed he was to find out he was wrong. Lu Ten wanted a quick solution, something instantaneous that made him come out on top as the hero. He mostly wanted revenge for his grandfather against his uncle. Lu Ten wanted to solve the suffering that he saw on their journey but for all the wrong reasons.

Normally, that would be okay, after all sometimes it wasn’t the reason you did something that mattered, only that you did something and it had a positive result. Lu Ten, though, showed today, through his actions, that anything that happened to the Earth Kingdom seemed secondary to him, whether it was good or bad. He would take temporary satisfaction over any real solution.

He might have caused a man to be killed. Though when Mako thought on it, he came to the grim conclusion that whether the man died with his shop or died on the streets due to his destroyed livelihood, he was going to end up dead.

With Lu Ten’s recent actions in mind, Mako came to the decision that Iroh’s plan was shit. Mako was definitely not behind him on it now, that he knew the person Iroh was putting his hopes behind, wasn’t someone who should be in charge of anything.

Then again, maybe Mako was being too hard on the kid. Mako himself had only gained a full grasp of the situation that morning, even if he did hate that he had to agree with Iroh.

When Mako got far enough away from the campsite, he slammed his back against a tree and slid to the ground. He breathed in deeply before letting the breath out. He wanted to meditate, but much like most things in his life now, it wasn’t an option. He wanted a car so he didn’t have to spend nearly two weeks walking across a country, he wanted noodles from the restaurant across form the Police Station, he wanted his brother. All of those things were lost to him now and all he had here were sore feet, Iroh’s admittedly good Water Tribe food, and two obnoxious Princes.

Giving up, Mako tried to fold himself up in his usual meditation position. He would just have to try it without the flame, because his mind was entirely too mixed up to function right now.

Mako felt his breath center, and while it never synced up with a flame, an ability forever lost to him, it still remained steady. Meditating, after all was more about the breath than the fire. That didn’t make him any less upset, when he realized he couldn’t meditate like he did with his mother anymore.

Pushing thoughts of his mother, and the thoughts of his brother that tried to slip through with her, out of his mind, Mako focused in on his main issue, which was surprisingly enough not Lu Ten.

Iroh was trying to play greater spirit here, and Mako wasn’t sure how to stop him. Iroh had his plan, as stupid as it was, and he was going to make sure everyone stuck to it. The stunt he pulled during their earlier conversation with Lu Ten, wasn’t amusing. His manipulations were starting to go too far, as he refused to take anything Lu Ten, and even Mako, wanted into consideration.

Telling Lu Ten there was nothing they could do, was wrong. Mako understood his reasonings, as much as he also didn’t agree with them. Trying to preserve the timeline, so that everything they knew wasn’t at risk of changing, wasn’t a bad idea in itself but Mako didn’t really know much, and he was starting to suspect Iroh didn’t know as much as he claimed to either. So Mako wasn’t really seeing a point to it.

The big events they knew, everyone knew them, but the smaller ones, like where these troops were at this time, were facts, no doubt, lost to both of them. It didn’t matter much if they changed those things and making Mako and Lu Ten’s idea of pushing back and stalling the Fire Nation troops in the central Earth Kingdom, seem like a bad idea, was uncalled for. Mako highly doubted stalling the Fire Nation would help the Fire Nation win anything.

Mako couldn’t help but blame himself for Iroh’s recent behavior. Iroh had become hypervigilant over Lu Ten, despite Lu Ten clearly asking him to stop with his manipulations, after Mako suggested that Lu Ten and his actions were their responsibility. He regretted ever saying anything now that he saw the way Iroh reacted. It was like how Korra described living in the White Lotus Compound, only worse because Lu Ten had no clue Iroh was still manipulating him or that Iroh was basically planning to keep him on some strange type of house arrest until the war ended in five years.

Mako wasn’t sure if Iroh knew what the implications and the effects of what he was trying to do to Lu Ten would be, or not. Iroh needed to understand that further sheltering the overly sheltered Prince wasn’t going to help anything. If anything, it would lead to Lu Ten either being completely useless as the Fire Lord or make him snap and become even worse than he was when they got ahold of him. The last thing the world needed was a Fire Lord who thought he had been held captive and brainwashed by the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes.

Iroh needed to stop.

He needed to talk to Iroh. He didn’t want to, but Lin had only just told him to stop bottling things up and talk to people. She meant it in more of a talk to your loved one’s way but Mako felt it stilled applied here, even if Iroh and Lu Ten were slowly becoming his hated one’s. So, he would talk to Iroh, and he would also have to talk to Lu Ten, maybe even both of them together. Mako already had a headache just thinking about it.

As Mako’s thoughts started falling into place, he became more aware of his surroundings, almost hyper aware. 

Despite his closed eyes, Mako could see where the tree roots around him poked out of the ground, and where they dug deep into the earth. He could see where ants marched along in a straight line towards an ant bed, the tunnels of which, were clear as day to Mako. He could see small creatures hopping and skittering along the ground. No, he couldn’t see anything, but he could feel it. He wondered if this was that seismic sensing, Bolin and Lin were always talking about.

He felt something far heavier than a small creature make its way towards him. The foots steps, while not heavy, where nonetheless made by someone rather large. It had to be Lu Ten, no doubt, coming to get him. Iroh walked too softly, he would have been tapping Mako on the shoulder, well before Mako noticed his presence, had it been him walking his way. He also wasn’t that tall, at least, Mako thought the person was tall.

When Mako opened his eyes, whatever connection he had managed to develop fell away. He couldn’t see Lu Ten, despite the fact that a few seconds ago, he knew Lu Ten was standing three feet away from him. He turned his head and saw Lu Ten searching through the trees for him. He was getting closer and didn’t appear to want to look down.

Maybe it was childish but Mako pushed his legs out fully as Lu Ten went to walk right past him. The Prince tripped, and because the universe hated him, landed directly in Mako’s lap. They both blushed bright red but Lu Ten was quick to stand back up.

“Rozin made lunch,” he said, quickly, his voice coming out breathless.

Mako stayed on the ground as he debated whether or not he actually wanted to get up. Apparently, he stayed down long enough that Lu Ten felt the need to sit down next to him.

The younger man’s face was still red and he seemed slightly uncomfortable, as well as confused, as he watched Mako out of the corner of his eyes.

“Rozin and I already talked about my actions,” Lu Ten, finally, said. “I’ve been doing things for the wrong reason.”

“Rozin tell you that or did you determine that for yourself?” Mako asked, it was a nasty question but Mako was tired of both men at this point. Lu Ten needed to wake up and Iroh needed to stop talking.

“What?” Lu Ten asked, his eyes going wide.

“You know he’s still manipulating you right?” Mako said, rolling his eyes. “Congratulations, your highness, you’ve gone from quoting your imperialist Grandfather, to quoting a guy you met not even a month ago. You’re doing really great at this individual thinking thing.”

Lu Ten fell silent. Mako let him, not really wanting to hear whatever new excuse Lu Ten would try to pull. Mako was surprised by what Lu Ten actually said when he did speak up.

“I don’t know what you want from me,” he finally said, his voice wavering towards the end.

Mako was the one who paused this time. It wasn’t what he was expecting and he didn’t really have a response to that.

“I don’t know what I want from you either,” Mako replied. It was the truth. He never imagined for a second, he would have ended up in this situation just by saving someone’s life. He didn’t know what he wanted form Lu Ten because he didn’t really want anything from him or to do with the man. Lu Ten happened to him accidentally, so did Iroh in all honesty, and Mako, at this point, really wished they hadn’t.

“That’s not fair,” Lu Ten said softly.

Mako had a lot of replies to that. Life’s not fair. Calling me a Smothered Flame wasn’t fair. Getting that man killed wasn’t fair. He didn’t say any of that, because saying those things also wouldn’t be fair. As much as Lu Ten was doing things for the wrong reasons, and being stupid about how he handled things, there was a genuine want to fix things in him. Mako had seen glimpses of it now and again.

“You need to understand, the Earth Kingdom doesn’t need a savior, not in the way you’re wanting to do things. What they need is help, help escaping when they can’t fight, help fighting when they can. When the dust settles and our side, hopefully comes out on top, they will need help finding normalcy. Not your normalcy, but whatever normalcy they can find from what they used to have and what they have left. Riling everyone up and watching them go isn’t going to help anyone,” Mako explained.

“So,” Lu Ten said slowly, “We need to do what you and Rozin said and sabotage supply lines, help refugees get from one point to another and run troops from areas we can. So why did we decide against it, exactly?”

“Rozin didn’t like that idea,” Mako said. “He said he wouldn’t recommend it, remember. He wants to keep you safe and warm until the war ends.”

Personally, Mako didn’t care what Iroh’s opinion on the matter was, he just wanted Lu Ten to realize that he had let himself be steered in the wrong direction, again.

“Rozin can get over it,” Lu Ten said. The fire from when he spoke after the declaration of his grandfather’s death was back. Mako kind of liked it. “I’m tired of being coddled. I need to take some kind of action, but what I just did was the wrong action to take. I don’t need you or Rozin to tell me that. If Rozin doesn’t want to come with me then that’s his business, but I’m going to do this.”

“No offense, but you’d die without us,” Mako said, unkindly. “You still haven’t put your hair back up in its top knot, and I’m starting to think you don’t know how to.”

“Then I don’t need it in a top knot,” Lu Ten shouted. Mako leaned back, having not expected Lu Ten’s reaction. “I’m so fucking tired right now, Mako. I’m in a foreign county, that my family has spent the past century screwing over, with two men I don’t fucking know the first thing about. My uncle tried to kill me, and did kill my grandfather. My father thinks I’m dead, my whole country thinks I’m dead and if I go home now, not only would my uncle try to kill me again, I would be branded a deserter. I followed you two here, with nothing to lose since I already lost it all, to get answers. I have those answers now and they changed everything I ever knew. I’m trying to put it all together in my head but I have you pulling me towards a coup against my uncle and Rozin pulling the exact same shit my family and country pulled in reverse. I just want to do something, anything to feel useful but neither of you will let me do it on my terms. Now a man might be dead because of me and I just want to take a fucking nap, and hopefully never wake up.”

Shit, Mako hadn’t meant to make Lu Ten cry. Apparently, Lu Ten’s breaking point was closer than Mako had thought. Mako was going to kill Iroh.

“Hey,” Mako said, reaching out to hover his hand over Lu Ten’s shoulder. He wasn’t good with crying people, mostly because he hated seeing people cry, but what Lu Ten just said was extremely concerning and needed addressing. “Hey, let’s just stop. Okay, we can just stop. Okay, just don't, don't say things like that, okay? We didn't save your life for you to just lay down and give up. You've shown you're a fighter Prince Lu Ten," it was the first time Mako had bothered to call him that, "You have what it takes, kid, you're made of pretty strong stuff. So let’s just stop, go get lunch and just, start over.”

Lu Ten stared at him like he was an idiot. There were still tears making their way down his face but at least Lu Ten wasn’t outright sobbing anymore.

“Start over?” Lu Ten said, his voice hoarse. “Just start over, as if I haven’t just killed a man, as if I’m not the Crown Prince of a Nation the world apparently hates, as if I didn’t belittle and mock you and Rozin, within hours of us meeting. Just put it all behind us? Sounds so simple. I’m starting to understand nothing is simple anymore.”

“I’m serious,” Mako said, his stomach clinched at the defeated sound of Lu Ten’s voice. “Let’s just stop and start from here. Figure out where we go from here, whether it’s with each other or not. We can’t keep moving forward like we are now, so let’s just stop.”

Lu Ten didn’t reply, so Mako got up and pulled him to his feet. He trailed behind Mako without a word.

“That took way longer than it should have. I ate without you two,” Iroh said, looking up from the pants he was patching up. The fact that one Prince knew so many basic skills while the other couldn’t even put his hair up, really said a lot about the growth of the Fire Nation royal family over time. The fact that Iroh was just as manipulative as those form this time, said a lot about them too.

Mako shook his head. “We are starting over,” he explained.

Lu Ten huffed as he sat down. Iroh was clearly confused but handed them both bowls anyway. Mako filled his bowl before explaining more. Lu Ten just stared at his.

“Look, the three of us are about this close to killing one another,” Mako said. His thumb and middle finger were touching, and Mako couldn’t be bothered to care, because if Iroh refused to stop, he’d be the one Mako killed. “We need to regroup, air our dirty laundry and move on or we will hate each other for the rest of our lives.”

Iroh narrowed his eyes in suspicion, no doubt he was suspicious about where this was going. He let Mako continue anyway.

“Lu Ten still has things to learn but we need to take our own advice on instant gratification, and stop treating him like change is going to happen overnight. Lu Ten and I both think that we should move inward towards the center of the Earth Kingdom and start pushing back the Fire Nation where we can,” Mako said. “You’re against it and I know why but I don’t agree with you. I think our actions will have less consequence on the situation, than you think they will. I think you are taking things entirely too far at this point.”

Iroh went to open his mouth but Mako cut him off.

“I’m going to tell you right now that if you try to fight Lu Ten on this, he’s going to leave or worse,” Mako said, he put emphasis on the last word. Iroh's eyes narrowed and Mako hoped he would figure out what that meant, without him having to say it outright. “He just said as much to me just now.”

“Lu Ten has already asked you to stop manipulating him,” Mako continued. “Now I’m telling you, to stop manipulating him. He’s a person, who can make his own decisions, not a toy solider for your imagination to play with. You don’t own him and you can’t keep him hostage. He’s reached a breaking point and we are both going to stop pushing so hard. Do you understand?”

Mako stared expectantly at Iroh, he noticed Lu Ten subtlety watching out of the corner of his eye. Iroh looked between the two men, his face was pulled into an angry frown that softened when he actually bothered to look at Lu Ten. It was probably the dried tear tracks still on the younger man’s face that did it. Mako knows it was the actual tears that did him in, that and what Lu Ten said.

Iroh sighed. “We haven’t been very fair to you, have we?” Iroh asked.

Lu Ten shook his head. “I haven’t been very fair to the two of you, either,” Lu Ten said, speaking for the first time since he shut down in the forest.

“Great,” Mako said, “We’re all assholes, so now what?”

“I thought you said we’d start over?” Lu Ten asked, mockingly.

Mako clinched his teeth but let the attitude slide, it wasn’t worth addressing right now. “Okay, starting over now,” Mako said, dryly. “Now, what?”

“I cave,” Iroh said with a sigh. “I’m sorry I fought so hard against the idea of moving east. I let my own ideas cloud my judgment and refused to consult anyone else. It’s a bad habit of mine, I just get caught up in things and then I get possessive of them, and I need to work on it. If you guys really want to do this, I’ll come with you.”

“That’s great and all, but I don’t even know your name,” Lu Ten said, trying to keep a small, hesitant, smile off his face.

“Can we go back to when we established that we’re all assholes?” Iroh asked.

“I don’t know what you’re taking about,” Mako replied. He decided to play along with Lu Ten, happy to see the other somewhat happy, and if it also let him get one last jab in at Iroh, that was just bonus. “We’ve never spoken a day in our lives about anything.”

“I hate you, two,” Iroh said.

“That’s so rude, you just met us,” Mako said. Iroh threw a rock at Mako, Mako was disappointed that he wasn’t able to stop it. It hit his arm.

Lu Ten smiled, fully now, and Mako was relieved to see it. “Jokes aside, there is still one thing I want to do before we leave,” Lu Ten said, his voice taking on a more serious tone. “I want to know. I need to know.”

“Are you sure?” Iroh asked, skeptically.

Lu Ten nodded.

“Then let’s get this over with,” Mako said.

Lu Ten finally put food in his bowl as the three of them worked out how best to figure out just what went down in the colony below and how to possibly fix any damage.

In the end, it was decided that they would send Iroh down to get information. The man was sneaky enough to not get caught. His ability to disappear from one second to the next was ridiculous, Mako really wanted to know where he learned to do that.

He and Lu Ten went in the opposite direction of the town, so that the watch tower guards, who were definitely watching them closely now, wouldn’t think it odd they were missing. Mako stayed at the camp, him going missing too, would be a sure sign that something was up, as they had yet to leave their camp unattended since settling.

They were gone for two hours.

Lu Ten didn’t look too cut up and Iroh seemed rather pleased, so Mako was going to assume the old man was still alive. However, according to Iroh, that wouldn’t last very long. The guards around this area had one too many accidents that lead to the deaths of civilians for the old man to really be in the clear.

“Then what has you so chipper?” Mako asked Iroh. He didn’t really seem all that concerned that the old man was on the chopping block still.

“Because, we are going to help our first refugee to Ba Sing Se,” Iroh explained. “Sadly, we can’t do anything more for this colony, and I’m saying this honestly and not in an attempt to get us to leave. From what I’ve heard this is a problem colony. These people don’t need our help causing mayhem, they do it with enough frequency on their own. A group of young earthbender's apparently caused enough trouble to temporarily distract the guards, apparently oh so encouraged by Lu Ten's speech that they destroyed the main guard quarters. Those that survived have already booked it as far from here as they could get but that old man needs help getting out, and that we can do.”

Mako looked Iroh up and down for a second, if he was manipulating them again, Mako couldn’t tell, and he had gotten really good at telling over the past few weeks. Iroh seemed rather desperate to be believed, so Mako figured he wasn’t lying.

“Okay,” Mako said, “But how?”

“Same way we came,” Lu Ten explained. He seemed excited, which meant Mako was the only one not in the loop right now.

“What,” Mako said, “are we drawing him a map?”

“Basically,” Iroh answered, “obviously we don’t want to leave something like that were it could potentially be found, but we can give him a map and show him the path. More importantly, we can give him the money for the ferry across Cold Water River.”

“And the Serpent’s River, he’s just supposed to swim across?” Mako asked, incredulously.

“Nope,” Lu Ten replied. “Rozin has contacts.”

“What?” Mako asked. “How does Rozin have contacts?”

They hadn't been here long enough to have contacts, unless it was some weird spirit memory contact but Mako didn't think it worked like that.

“I made some friends on the ship,” Iroh said with a shrug. He seemed to be trying to wave off the conversation. Mako couldn’t help but recall the captain of the ship, who could usually be found with his arm slung over Iroh’s shoulders, during their short trip. Mako decided he was better off not knowing what type of contact Iroh had.

“Okay, and his way into the city?” Mako questioned.

Iroh and Lu Ten stared at him blankly.

Mako sighed. “Does the man have a passport? He needs one to get into Ba Sing Se, he’d also needs to know the way to the waystation to get into the city. The train into the city is luckily free but the path from where we entered and the waystation is through a desert.”

“What?” Lu Ten asked. “There’s not a desert next to Ba Sing Se, is there? I thought it was on the other side of the bay.”

“No,” Iroh said, bringing his hand to his chin. “Mako’s right there’s a desert on both sides and he would need to cross it. Maybe we could take him another way, through the Great Divide and up towards the ferry station to Ba Sing Se, then we can just pay the ferry fee?”

“That’s still a desert though,” Mako replied.

“Mako, half the Earth Kingdom is a desert, what do you want me to do about it?” Iroh demanded.

Iroh’s patience had apparently ran out, but Mako realized he was right. “The ferry station would be quicker,” Mako conceded, “and most of his desert travel time would be spent in the Great Divide with a Canyon Guide, they don’t usually charge so it would also be cheaper.”

“Hey, guys,” Lu ten said, hesitantly, “Can’t we just go with him? Won’t it lead us straight to the center of the Earth Kingdom? We don’t have to follow him all the way to Ba Sing Se but we could drop him off past whatever desert the Great Divide is in. It’s not the huge one is it?”

“No, it’s relatively small,” Iroh said, absentmindedly. “I suppose we could go with him, it’s not like we are staying here but we would need to move quickly. Fire Nation wouldn’t care about one person normally but this isn’t about a person, it’s about a message, so they might follow, at least a little way.”

“Tomorrow morning, Rozin can go in again and see if the man wants to come with us, if he does, we will walk him though the Great Divide desert and split up where it ends.” Mako said. “Then we can get to work doing, whatever it is we plan on doing.”

“What about the passport?” Lu Ten asked.

“We can cross that bridge later,” Iroh said. “It’s relatively easy to get a passport if you know where to go.”

When Mako went to bed that night, he felt relaxed for the first time in weeks. Maybe everything would blow up in their faces tomorrow but Mako, felt better just knowing that tonight he and his travel companions had finally reached an equilibrium, even if it ended up being only temporary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have sunburn, it hurts, otherwise camping was a success. At least we didn't get eaten by a bear.
> 
> Lu Ten's mental breakdown happened in the second draft of this chapter and I debated taking it out but honestly, someone had to break cause these characters were about to back themselves into a corner.
> 
> Iroh is taking up the stern position while Mako is apparently taking up a nurturing one. Lu Ten is still chaotic but he eventually takes up the lead position, eventually.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and sorry it's a bit late.


	12. Dragon Born - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starting over went more smoothly the Iroh expected, but he and Mako were still hiding something from Lu Ten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: War, and all the horrid things that come with it, implications of rape to a background character but no actual rape, illusions and quotes from the Great Divide episode.

Iroh had spent most of his youth around very deadly people. Whether those people where his grandfather Aang, who could invoke the Avatar State at will, or his grandmother Mai, who could pin a fly to a piece of string from a mile off, they were all very deadly. Iroh had many teachers, of many skills over his life, from learning swordsmanship and hunting from Uncle Sokka, to chi blocking and acrobatics from Aunt Ty Lee.

Iroh, and his sister, were unofficially, considered the deadliest people in the Fire Nation. Iroh, slightly more so, due to his ability to firebend, and the advanced techniques, such as the breath of fire and lightningbending, that came with it. Not, that he could do either of those things anymore.

It was with little difficulty that Iroh dodged the Fire Nation troops, patrolling the area. This was, of course, due to the fact that he was on a roof and they were walking along the streets. The first thing his grandfather Zuko had told him, when teaching him how to roof hop, was that most people never thought to look up. Afterall, how often would you actually find someone on a roof?

In the Fire Nation Palace of Iroh’s time, the answer was all the time.

Iroh stopped roof hopping when he reached the collapsed building, or rather buildings, that used to be the old man, and his neighbors’, shops. Iroh wondered for a moment if they shouldn’t extend their invitation to the neighbors, but the shop on the left was Fire Nation and already showed little issue setting back up, while the shop on the right, though Earth Kingdom, wasn’t really all that damaged.

The old man wasn’t here, not that Iroh had expected him to be. Instead, Iroh found him a few roofs down at the inn, Iroh, Lu Ten and Mako had stayed at the one night they were in the colony.

Iroh watched the man as he slowly made his way into the building. The inn was relatively small, so Iroh was able to see the windows of all the rooms from his vantage point. A light flickered to life in the third window down and Iroh just hoped he wasn’t about to freak out the wrong person.

He leaned down over the roof till his head hovered in the window. Then he knocked.

Iroh could see the man through the window as he startled and turned in Iroh’s direction. Fear and apprehension crossed the man’s face but he none the less opened the window.

“Hello?” the man asked, in clear confusion, staring down towards the ground before realizing the rest of Iroh was actually on the roof.

“Hi,” Iroh said. “Can I come in? I have something to discuss with you.”

The old man looked at him like he was crazy but didn’t seem to have enough fight left to question what was going on. Iroh swung through the window and landed softly next to the man.

“So, I know this is weird, but my friend was kind of responsible for what happened to your shop and so, now, he wants to help you,” Iroh explained.

“The tall young firebender, from yesterday wants to help me?” the man asked, skeptically.

“Yes,” Iroh replied. “We can help you get to Ba Sing Se, if you want. If not, we will just move on ourselves, but from what I’ve heard around town, staying here isn’t an option if you want to not die.”

The old man hummed. “Play a game with me?” He asked, gesturing to a Pai Sho board set up on the rooms only table. “We can discuss you’re offer more.”

Iroh narrowed his eyes at the man, this had to be a cruel joke, there was no actual way. Maybe the man was just senile and liked boardgames. Iroh could only dream of being that lucky.

“Sure,” Iroh said. He took a gamble, to test his theory, and placed the White Lotus tile in the middle of the board.

This time it was the old man who narrowed his eyes. “I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways,” he says, staring Iroh down, as he cupped his hands in front of him.

Iroh sighed. “Look I’m not one of your old guy club members, but I know a few people who are,” Iroh replied. The old man didn’t look amused at Iroh’s comment and waited expectantly. “Those who do can always find a friend,” Iroh grumbled, cupping his hands back.

“Then let us play,” the old man replied, as he placed down his tile.

Iroh copied him. “Look,” Iroh said, as the White Lotus pattern started to take shape, “this really does have nothing to do with Pai Sho and Lotus tiles, my friend has no clue who you are and until now I didn’t either, are you coming or not?”

“You have very little patience young man,” the elder replied. “Tell me, what is your name, and the name of your friend?”

“Rozin,” Iroh replied, knowing that he would just have to let the old man play his game. “His name is Lu-” Iroh barely cut himself off from saying Lu Ten’s full name, “and there is also Mako, and your name?”

“Ki Ha,” the man said. “I settled here for a reason, I planned to spend the rest of my life here.”

“If you don’t come with us,” Iroh said, “you probably will. Then what use will you be to those who need you?”

Iroh nodded to the completed Lotus Flower on the board. Ki Ha nodded.

“Lead the way then, but be mindful, I am too old to be climbing roofs,” he said, packing up his few surviving belongings.

“Yeah,” Iroh said under his breath, “you’re all just harmless old men, aren’t you?”

Ki Ha smiled at him before handing Iroh his bag. “Have some respect for your elders and carry my bag,” he replied.

Iroh rolled his eyes but none the less carried the bag the whole time the two of them cautiously made their way back to the campsite.

When they reached the campsite, Mako and Lu Ten had already packed everything up. They wasted little time handing Iroh his bag so they could immediately start walking.

“That’s Mako,” Iroh said, “and that’s Lu.” Mako nodded as he slung his bag up on his shoulder, while Lu Ten waved hesitantly.

Ki Ha watched the other two men as they walked. Mako seemed completely unconcerned by the scrutiny but Lu Ten fidgeted the entire time.

Finally, he caved. “I apologize, for what happened to your shop. It wasn’t my intention, I just got mad at the way they were treating you and didn’t fully understand the situation. My friends,” Lu Ten paused over the word for a moment, “helped me realize where I went wrong and now, I just want to make sure you’ll be okay.”

Iroh, and Mako from his own expression, were both surprised by Lu Ten. Neither of them had ever heard him talk like that. When they said they were starting over last night, Iroh hadn’t realized just how seriously Lu Ten was going to take it. He wondered how long it would last.

Ki Ha hesitantly patted Lu Ten’s elbow, unable to comfortably reach his shoulder. “You are not the first young man to come storming into a situation like that with little thought other than righting an injustice, and you won’t be the last. Admittedly, they are usually Earth Kingdom boys, not Fire Nation.”

“Oh,” Iroh said, “He’s not-”

Ki Ha shushed him. “He’s the most Fire Nation, young man, I’ve ever seen in my life. You will not convince me this boy grew up anywhere other than the Fire Nation, nor will you convince me you grew up anywhere else either.”

Lu Ten and Iroh both blushed as Mako snickered.

The rest of their travels followed a similar pattern. Ki Ha was a character and took great pleasure at poking his younger companions, particularly his “little savior”, as he called Lu Ten. He and Mako got along well. Iroh often found himself dragged into Pia Sho games whenever they settled for the night, leaving Mako to cook for once. He was surprisingly a decent cook for a bachelor cop, but Iroh supposed he did have a little brother, so maybe he learned to cook for him.

Iroh was surprised at how easy words flowed between Lu Ten, Mako and himself, now that they had agreed to start fresh and be more honest with each other. Though the three were quickly settling into a healthier conversation pattern, Iroh still couldn’t help but feel like something was off.

He thinks he knows what the issue is but until he spoke to Mako, alone, he couldn’t really solve it.

They reached the Great Divide on the fifth day, their older companion slowing their travel speed slightly. There were three other refugees waiting for the canyon guide. A mother and daughter duo stood closely together, the daughter clearly pregnant and extremely timid. Iroh could only hope those two observations weren’t caused by the same action. The other was a man somewhere around Iroh and Mako’s age with bandages covering a huge burn wound still healing on his face.

Iroh had slowly gotten better at healing over the course of taking care of Lu Ten and was slightly itching to heal the young man’s face. The young man twitched under Iroh’s stare, no doubt, uncomfortable with someone looking at it. Before Iroh could reassure him, the canyon guide came barreling towards them.

“All right, ladies and gentlemen,” the guide said, “let’s get this show on the road. Now, there’s some bad news, no food allowed in the canyon, it attracts dangerous predators.” He leaned in towards Lu Ten as he said this. Lu Ten wasn’t impressed.

“Right, well,” he said, seeming disappointed that Lu Ten wasn’t scared, “We will go down in ten minutes. All food better be in your gut or in the garbage!”

“Guys,” Mako said, sounding slightly worried. “We might want to rethink this. A whole day without food? I don’t think Lu Ten’s going to make it.”

“Funny,” Lu Ten said, elbowing Mako.

“He’ll be fine,” Ki Ha said. “Rozin’s the one I’m worried about. He might actually have to get dirty at some point.”

Lu Ten and Mako laughed.

Iroh huffed. He really didn’t understand his travel companions' humor at his grooming habits. If they were fine with dirt in their hair and coating their skin, then that was great for them but Iroh didn’t.

They walked slowly down the canyon wall, the guide earthbending pathways where they had broken off.

“Many of you are probably wondering how canyons are formed. Experts tell us this canyon was most likely carved into the ground by earth spirits who were angry at local farmers for not offering them a proper sacrifice,” The canyon guide said. The canyon started rumbling as rocks fell from the top. Before they could crush them, the canyon guide launched them away.

“Guess the spirits are still angry! Hope you all brought sacrifices,” The man said, laughing.

“You did that on purpose!” Mako shouted. “I felt it.”

“Oh,” the canyon guide said. “An earthbender, not the usual company I escort across. You all usually try to get across yourself. Sorry folks, the job can get a bit repetitive, sometimes a good laugh breaks up the monotony.”

Iroh felt dread fill him as he realized this man wasn’t entirely sane. He smashed the bridges he made when they reached the bottom, and then spent most of the day trying to enlist Mako’s assistance.

“Poor, Mako,” Lu Ten said. “He really just does these things to himself.”

Iroh laughed.

The rest of the day trip past uneventfully, though Mako did eventually cave to the canyon guide. When the guide realized Mako wasn’t very good at earthbending, he took it upon himself to teach Mako a few tricks. It was kind of fun watching Mako launch rocks around, and sometimes get launched by the rock. It wasn’t so fun when the canyon guide taught him how to snatch the earth out from under people’s feet. Iroh and Lu Ten spent the next hour slipping and sliding on the ground to Mako and Ki Ha’s amusement.

Iroh would have been angrier about it, had it not also cheered up their other travel companions. Lu Ten tended to make a squeaking noise every time Mako moved him, that would set the daughter off into giggles. It was a nice sound to hear after so long on the road.

That night they set up camp in a small crevice between two canyon walls.

Iroh waited till Lu Ten was fully immersed in a conversation with Ki Ha and the mother-daughter duo, and not sneaking glances at Mako, which Iroh was definitely going to be asking the younger man about later, before grabbing Mako’s attention.

“What’s up?” Mako asked, sliding closer to Iroh.

Iroh hesitated for a moment. “Look, I know this starting over thing isn’t really guaranteed to work but Lu Ten’s putting in serious effort to make it work and I can’t help be feel like if we don’t tell him the truth soon, whatever peace we come to is going to shatter like glass.”

Mako went to reply but Iroh spoke over him. “I know we can’t really trust him right now, that it’s only been a few weeks but-”

Mako placed his hand over Iroh’s mouth. “Sometimes, you just really need to stop saying words and let other people have a turn,” Mako said. “I agree. We should tell him. If we are going to make this work, he needs to know and maybe knowing why we are so insistent on somethings, might help him with whatever issues he’s still struggling with. Let’s not kid ourselves here, the spirits told us we could tell only one person, that meant they had one person in mind and it’s probably him.”

Iroh nodded, Mako’s hand still covering his mouth. Feeling playful, and slightly vindictive over when Mako did it to him, Iroh bit down on Mako’s finger.

“Ow, fuck,” Mako yelled. “What was that for?”

“Revenge,” Iroh said, before walking off.

“I thought we agreed to start over,” Mako yelled after him. “You can’t hold something from Ba Sing Se against me.”

Iroh laughed, before schooling his face into something more blank. He walked slowly towards the young man with the burn scar. The man watched him cautiously as he approached.

“Hi,” Iroh said, “Can I sit with you for a minute?”

The man nodded unsurely, so Iroh settled slightly farther away than he had originally planned.

“My name’s Rozin,” Iroh said softly, his new name was starting to roll of his tongue naturally. “I’m a waterbender and we have this ability to heal wounds. You don’t have to, obviously, but if you wanted, I could heal that burn for you. It won’t go away, it’s too old but it might be less damaging if I healed it all now.”

“Jun,” the man replied. “My name’s Jun and,” he hesitated slightly, “I guess, you could but you have to promise to stop if I say so, or I’ll yell.”

Iroh nodded. “I promise.”

Jun pulled the bandages from his face. It was bad, and that was coming from someone who’s grandfather had his left eye nearly burned off. The scar stretched from Jun’s right cheek bone across his nose and grazed the underside of his left eye, to his left ear, where some of his hair was also burned off. In some places it was nearly charred while others were only a light shiny pink color.

This wouldn’t be easy.

Iroh slowly pulled the water from his waterskin, making his movements obvious and slightly exaggerated. Jun flinched slightly when the water started glowing and Iroh held back. Once Jun appeared to relax somewhat, he placed the water to the other man’s face.

Jun surprised Iroh by leaning into the water, to the point where Iroh’s hand was actually touching his face. The other man’s eyes slipped close as a tear made its way from his uninjured eye.

“I know it’s bad,” he said. “they made sure of it. I’m going to be alone for the rest of my life.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Iroh said. “I’ve known a lot of people with bad burns who still manage to make connections with people. My grandfather for one, Mako for another,” Iroh said gesturing to the man’s burned arm. Mako was wearing short sleeves today, making the burn mark much more obvious than it usually was as it wound its way up Mako’s arm. “Sadly, you aren’t the first to get burned and you won’t be the last, people will still care about you. I’ll promise that too.”

“Thanks, but that’s not what I’m talking about, that girl and her mother have been throwing freaked out glances my way the whole day. I may not have been ready for a family and kids yet, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want them. Who in their right minds would find me attractive?” Jun said, morosely.

Iroh grunted. “Well, I exist so at least men with scars on their faces have enough game to have grandkids,” Iroh said. “How’d you get it anyway?”

“I was trying to protect my little cousin,” Jun replied. “I was traveling with my aunt, uncle and cousin to Ba Sing Se, but I got separated from them when we were ambushed by Fire Nation soldiers. They grabbed her and the only way to get them to let go was to get close enough for this to happen. My family dropped me off at a healer with enough money for a passport. They had to keep moving.”

Iroh didn’t know what to say to that, so he stayed silent, letting Jun’s story disperse into the air. 

Iroh pulled his hand back from Jun’s face, just to visually, check what he had already felt through the water. Jun’s face was nearly fully healed. The more charred parts of his face were still a bright red that would have to heal naturally, but the rest was completely healed. The pink areas not even leaving a scar behind.

Iroh tried something he hadn’t attempted before and pulled the water into a flat surface. It didn’t freeze like he wanted it to, so he tried again. Jun looked at him oddly as he tried a third time but the water finally froze, into a slightly sketchy mirror. Still, Iroh was able to see his face and when he turned it to face Jun the other man’s jaw dropped. The only part truly left disfigured, was the area on his right cheek, where the fire probably originally hit him.

Iroh wasn’t prepared to be hugged, nor was he prepared to be the center of attention when everyone turned to see what the commotion was about.

Jun had his face buried in Iroh’s neck chanting, “Thank you,” over and over in a shaky voice. Iroh could do nothing but awkwardly pat the man’s back.

Lu Ten stared in concern while Mako made kissy faces. Ki Ha was watching Iroh closely. Iroh had a sinking feeling that the White Lotus would be contacting him at some point in the future.

Jun eventually pulled back from Iroh and everyone ignored the tear tracks on his face. Though, most of them were probably too shocked that his burn scar, which even covered in bandages still stuck out enough for people to see it, was mostly gone, to notice.

“Thank you,” Jun said, one last time. “How do I repay you for this?”

Iroh shook his head. “You don’t,” Iroh replied. “I don’t need you to. Just, don’t let that scar stop you from living. Don’t let them win like that. Wear it proudly, you earned it doing the right thing.”

With that Iroh walked off towards where Mako had set up their tent. They hadn’t been using it previously but the sky, despite it being a desert, was threatening a down pour. It could comfortably fit three but it was a tight squeeze with Ki Ha joining them. Lu Ten was quiet as he went to bed, something about the conversation he had with the mother and daughter seemed to upset him. Mako spent the night with his elbow in Iroh’s face.

At the end of their canyon trip the three men, sadly split ways with Ki Ha. The old man went south-east with Jun trailing in his wake, the two apparently having agreed to continue their travels together. The woman and her daughter, cautiously followed behind. Iroh had little doubt that the four would end up traveling together. 

Iroh, Mako and Lu ten however, headed straight south in the direction of Omashu. While, the city of lovers wasn’t their destination, it was the easiest way to reorient themselves when asking the canyon guide for directions.

They, thankfully, came across a small desert settlement, soon after leaving the Great Divide. They were out of food, having thrown it before reaching the canyon.

Mako and Iroh agreed it was best that they split up, Mako looking for food and such while Iroh searched out more Earth Kingdom appropriate clothing for Lu Ten.

Iroh set out, with Lu Ten at his heels, towards a shop that had caught his eye upon entering the town. It wasn’t a clothing store, Iroh would get to that after, instead the shop he dragged Lu Ten to, was a weapons store.

Lu Ten hesitantly hovered by the door, while Iroh looked around the shop, his mind on a very specific type of weapon – throwing knives.

He found them towards the back of the shop, next to the shopkeeper’s counter. Most were of a relatively lower-quality, but one set was fairly impressive craftsmanship. Iroh smiled as he grabbed both the high-quality set and one of the lower-quality sets, he had an idea.

“Hi,” Iroh said, walking up to the counter. He places both sets of knives down, “How much for both?”

Iroh knew setting down both qualities of knives would mark him as an amateur who couldn’t tell the difference, he was counting on it.

The shopkeeper hummed. “Let’s see, twenty-five gold pieces, each,” the man replied.

Iroh would pay twenty-five gold pieces for the high-quality set, it was a fair price, but he wouldn’t pay any gold pieces for the other. Before, he really got into the swing of bartering, something caught his eye behind the counter.

Hanging, one next to the other, were three Fire Days Festival dragon masks. One green, one blue and the one in the center was red. A brilliant plan formed in Iroh’s mind, worthy of the Blue Spirit. He wanted those masks, he pretty sure his grandfather would be proud of his idea.

“How much for those masks?” Iroh asked, throwing the shopkeeper off.

He turned to look at what Iroh was referring to. “Not for sale,” he said, in a way that meant they could be for sale, if you offered up the right price.

“Oh,” Iroh said, dropping his shoulders, “sorry, I just thought they looked cool. What are they?”

The shopkeeper preened at being able to inform Iroh of something. “Authentic Fire Nation festival masks. I got them from a colony festival not too far from here. Say what you will about the Fire Nation, but they can throw a party.”

“Really,” Iroh said, leaning closer to see them. “That’s so cool.”

The shopkeeper looked at Iroh, then the masks and then the knifes. “Tell you what kid, I can either give you all of these knives and one of the masks for fifty-one gold pieces, or you can take half the knives and all three masks for thirty-one gold. How’s that sound?”

“Really?” Iroh asked, trying to hide his excitement from another successful barter. The shopkeeper, though putting both offers on the table, clearly wanted Iroh to take the second. No doubt, the shopkeeper thought Iroh would take the lower quality knives, appearing to be a novice, and the three, rather useless, if high quality masks. Thirty-one gold was, in all actuality a fair price for all the items, so Iroh agreed, despite it not being the outright steal he was after. He was in a nice mood today.

While the man pulled the masks down Iroh placed back the lower-quality knives and took great satisfaction as the man’s face fell when he saw just which half of the knives Iroh had chosen to keep.

The man kept his deal though and Iroh left with both the masks and the knives. 

As he walked Lu Ten through the surrounding clothing stores, he strapped the knives in varying different places to give him a good range to be able to reach one. Lu Ten, though seemingly curious, didn’t ask.

Iroh had no such resistance. “So, what was bothering you so much last night when you went to bed?” Iroh asked. He picked up an awful looking top and showed it to Lu Ten who looked on with horror.

“Ew,” Lu Ten said, snatching the top and placing it back where it came from. “Nothing really, or just more of the same. The younger woman’s husband was killed trying to stop her dad from being arrested for being an earthbender. So, now she has a baby on the way, a dead husband and a father in prison, and it’s my fault.”

“It’s not,” Iroh said. “You’re trying to fix things. You can’t control what your people do. Even when you did have the power of being Crown Prince, I doubt you could have done much. Not without serious repercussions for yourself.”

“Doesn’t change how I feel about it,” Lu Ten said.

Iroh understood that and had no real answer for Lu Ten, so he changed the subject. “Speaking of your odd behavior, what’s up with you and Mako?”

“Nothing,” Lu Ten said quickly. His tone of voice implied that there was actually a lot going on there but Iroh decided not to push anymore in the name of starting over.

They met back up with Mako around sundown and settled at the only inn in the town.

“So,” Iroh said when they first got into the room. “I have an idea about how to proceed with our plan to push back at the Fire Nation. See, I found these dragon masks, while shopping and they reminded me of the story of my grandfather running around the Earth Kingdom in a mask as a half-thief, half-vigilante, character.”

“Why was your grandfather running around the Earth Kingdom, I thought you were from the Fire Nation?” Lu Ten asked. Iroh waved him off. They would explain that later.

“Not important,” Iroh said. “What is important, is that these masks would help us rebel against the Fire Nation without having to watch our backs, particularly Lu Ten, who is eventually going to have to return home and probably shouldn’t do so with a most wanted poster of his face.”

Iroh pulled out the masks, tossing the red one to Lu Ten and the green to Mako. “They are even color coded,” Iroh said, holding up the blue one. “See?”

The other two men just stared at him.

Iroh lowered his mask, as the silence form Lu Ten and Mako dragged on. He had gone too far in his excitement, again. He bit at his lip, as he tried to figure out a way to get out of this situation, when Mako spoke up.

“I mean, the color coding is a little dorky and the dragon motif is a bit on the nose, but it’s actually not a bad idea and they are pretty cool looking,” Mako said, holding his up to get a better look.

The masks were the top half of a dragon’s head, and only covered the top half of a person’s face. The bottom jaw was missing, allowing for the wearer to have an uncovered mouth, while still concealing their eyes and nose. The snout followed the nose line, sticking out slightly form the face. The typical dragon mane surrounded most of the mask.

“They are pretty cool, though I’m not sure I like the idea of hiding my face,” Lu Ten said, “but I get why it would be a good idea.”

Iroh looked up at the other two, to find Mako smirking and Lu Ten smiling softly at him. He had never been more grateful for two people in his life.

They put up the masks, as Mako ran down to get dinner, and were soon back to their typical behavior as they ate their first meal since the canyon. It was after dinner that Mako and Iroh decided they’d better tell Lu Ten now.

Lu Ten was sat up in bed, his fire slug subtly tucked under his pillow, reading a book he had picked up at some point while shopping. Iroh hadn’t noticed it, till after it was purchased but he wouldn’t have stopped Lu Ten from buying it anyway.

Mako tapped Iroh on the shoulder and nodded to Lu Ten. Iroh sighed but nodded back.

“Lu,” Iroh called out. Lu Ten looked up from his book. “We need to tell you something. You’ve been doing great with this whole starting over thing and Mako and I, haven’t. If we are all going to be honest with each other from now on there’s something we need to tell you.”

Lu Ten lowered his book. He looked nervously from one man to the other. His entire body was tense as he hesitantly asked, “What?”

“Well,” Mako said, “it’s not easy to explain so I’m just going to say it. We are from the future.”

Lu Ten stared at them blankly for a long time before saying, “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things to tell you all about this story:
> 
> So, I relalized as I was writing the newest chapter that autocorrect didn't like "Rozin's" grandmother's name so I went back and fixed it because I missed it in chapter six. Her name is Tamia, not Tama, so you don't have to go back and check it.
> 
> I have two new one-shot style stories waiting in the wings but I don't want to publish them yet, as they contain spoilers. One is coming with Chapter 19, while the other is coming with Chapter 20. There are also several other's I haven't written yet, that either aren't spoilers and will be published immediately or fit between Books one and two.
> 
> Also, I make sketches, very sketchy sketches, of certain things when trying to work them out in my head. Some of them are spoilers but if you guys would be interested to see them, I can post them on my Tumblr. I don't always describe things the best.
> 
> I'm proud of myself guys. I've never written anything this long in my life and now I only have four (and a half) chapters left to write for book one.


	13. Sons of Agni - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten learns the truth and the guys finally get to put their plan and teamwork to the test.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: imperialism, emotionally abusive family

Lu Ten's brain couldn't process what Mako had just said.

When Rozin said that they weren't being entirely truthful with him, Lu Ten had feared the worst. They were actually part of his uncle's conspiracy and were going to hand him over to be killed, they lied about starting over and were planning on leaving him alone in the middle of a random Earth Kingdom town, that Ki Ha wasn't going to be okay and the three of them just didn't want to upset him by saying so.

He never would have guessed the words that just came out of Mako's mouth. No easy way to explain it didn't even begin to cover it. If it wasn't so out of character, from what little of the two men Lu Ten already knew, he'd think it was a joke or prank or new plot but this kind of crazy was too far.

He looked closer at each man. Mako's face was pulled down into a serious frown, while Rozin's face was uncharacteristically open. His wide eyes implored Lu Ten to believe them.

Maybe it was a sign of how off course his life had gone but, Agni help him, he did believe them. At least, he believed them enough to hear out whatever crazy, shared madness the two were about to let him in on. Whether it was actual time travel or one of them was about to pull out a hallucinogen, Lu Ten didn't know but he was willing to find out.

"What?" Lu Ten finally asked. His mind was racing as every possible outcome worked through his mind. The simplest being, that he simply misheard Mako or Mako was confused.

"We were brought back in time and created an alternate dimension with the help of the greater spirits." Rozin said.

Of course, it wouldn't be that simple.

"Right," Lu Ten said hesitantly, "Um, what?"

Lu Ten was really struggling at this point. He couldn't grip any of what Rozin just said. Alternate dimension? Greater spirits? What has Lu Ten gotten himself into?

Mako moved to sit on the end of Lu Ten's bed and while it may have been rude, Lu Ten stretched out his legs, which had bunched up while he was reading, till they blocked the rest of the bed. Mako took the hint and plopped down on Rozin's bed instead, Mako having agreed to take the cot tonight.

Lu Ten closed his book and dropped it into his bag, he wouldn't be reading anymore tonight. With nothing in his hand, Lu Ten reached for his stuffed fire slug and placed it in his lap.

He knew it was childish. His father told him he was too old for it at twelve and his grandfather ordered him to get rid of it the second his dad left, when he was fourteen. Lu Ten had ignored his father and hidden it from his grandfather. He told his Aunt Ursa about it once and while she didn't fully understand, she told Lu Ten people shouldn't have to give up the things that brought them comfort, unless they wanted to. Maybe it was weird, but it was the only thing Lu Ten had of a mother that all but didn't exists. As stupid as it seemed at the time, Lu Ten was glad he had brought it to the front and even more glad that Rozin had thought to steal it.

The other two men didn't seem to care that a stuffed animal had joined their conversation. Outside of the first few giggles, the two had never said anything about Flameo, since they'd discovered him.

"I know it’s hard to believe and even harder to wrap your head around," Rozin said. "We were, and truthfully are, still just as confused as you are."

Lu Ten just stared at Rozin. "Just," Lu Ten started, "Just start from the beginning and I'll see where we stand at the end."

"Okay," Mako said, as Rozin nodded. "Where's the beginning?"

Rozin shrugged at Mako's question before tilting his head.

"So," Rozin started. "My name's not Rozin."

Lu Ten couldn't help but think that was the worst possible place for him to have started. He didn't even know their real names anymore. He dug his fingers into Flameo's plush.

"In 149 AG Fire Lord Zuko's daughter Izumi gave birth to a baby boy," Not Rozin explained. "They named him Iroh the Second."

Lu Ten felt his stomach drop. This wasn't good, that made no sense. It couldn’t make sense.

"He grew up to be a General in the United Republic Military," Not Rozin, continued, "a military formed to prevent something like the Hundred Year War, this war, from ever happening again. It took in troops from every world military as a loan, until the United Republic, formally the Fire Nation colonies, became its own country in 170 AG. It took a few years to settle everything but in 175 AG, he was supposed to be forced into an early retirement from the now foreign military and return home to be coronated as Fire Lord. Instead, he got kidnapped and strong-armed back in time with a Republic City Police Detective named Mako by the greater spirit Agni. Our firebending, the element we were born with, was replaced with waterbending and earthbending. False identities were made for us by the spirits, so our existence here wouldn't be suspect."

Lu Ten looked Rozin, no, Iroh the Second, in the eye before turning to Mako, simple Mako, whose name didn't send Lu Ten into an existential crisis.

"What?" Lu Ten asked, not even recognizing the hoarse, desperate sound coming out of his mouth as his own voice.

"Maybe that wasn't a good starting point," Mako said, looking with concern at Lu Ten. "Maybe start somewhere else."

"Where else would I have started?" Iroh the Second said, "His beginning? I don't know if you remember Mako but that's not exactly a long story.”

Lu Ten felt queasy, so that's why Zuko was Fire Lord. Iroh the Second, the man named after Lu Ten's own father, turned quickly towards Lu Ten, as if he finally realized what he had just said.

"So, I died," Lu Ten said slowly, his voice trembling slightly, "without you two there to save me."

Mako and Iroh, fucking Iroh of all the names, stared at one another for a second. 

"Yes," Mako said, when the two broke eye contact.

The room was silent for a moments before Lu Ten lost it. He started laughing and couldn't make himself stop. He knew Mako and Iroh, of course his name was Iroh, were watching him but he couldn't be bothered to care.

"Iroh" he said, voice trembling with laughter, "you're fucking name is Iroh. What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?"

"You can," Iroh stuttered, "You can keep calling me Rozin, if it'd make you feel better."

“Your fake name,” Lu Ten said, laughing harder, "It rhymes with Sozin, you're fucking kidding me."

Lu Ten ignored Rozin’s muttered, "Curse you Agni," and continued on.

"Of course, it doesn't make me feel better," Lu Ten said, "my eleven-year-old cousin's grandchild is sitting in front of me, sharing my father's name and you think anything is going to make me feel better?"

"Hey," Mako said, reaching out to steady Lu Ten from falling off his bed in hysterics. "Let's all just calm down a minute."

Lu Ten fell back on his bed and covered his face with Flameo. "What is going on anymore? I'm dead, aren't I? This entire thing is a fever dream I came up with, while I bleed out in a field somewhere in Ba Sing Se, isn't it?"

"No," Mako said, grabbing Lu Ten's hand tightly. "This is real, okay? I'm real, you're real and Rozin's real."

"No, he's fucking not" Lu Ten said, trying to snatch his hand back. Mako held it tighter.

"Okay fine," Mako replied, jumping form Iroh’s bed to Lu Ten’s. "Then Iroh's real. Point is we are here, real and together. You aren't dead and you aren't dying."

"But I was supposed to," Lu Ten said. His voice gave out on the last word.

"No," Mako said softly, squeezing Lu Ten's hand. "Not in this dimension. Not with us."

"Your destiny here and now is your own to carve out." Rozin, no Iroh, added. "We, supposedly, accidentally broke you free from the will of fate. Though now that I think on it, I have to wonder if Agni didn't lie about being free from destiny."

"What came next in your time?" Lu Ten asked quietly. "What comes next for us now?"

“Next?” Iroh repeated. “Next for us is whatever we choose to do, but keep in mind if we go too crazy, Agni said we could lose any advantage knowing our future could give us. Mako and I have tried to be careful about what we change. You, weren’t exactly planed.”

“Don’t,” Lu Ten interrupted, “please don’t talk about me as if I was some random person you picked up.”

“Random, no,” Mako joked, “But we certainly didn’t plan on having you with us. In hindsight though we realized that saving you was kind of what Agni wanted us to do anyway.”

Lu Ten took in a deep breath. That didn’t sound good. “Is there a particular reason Agni wanted me alive?” Lu Ten asked.

Mako and Rozin both shrugged. “We haven’t figured it out,” Iroh, not Rozin, said. “Well, not completely, spirits don’t always think the same way we do.”

“Right,” Lu Ten said, “So what was supposed to happen?”

Iroh hesitated slightly. “I’m not going to tell you everything,” Iroh said sternly, “because we don’t have time for that but the basics are, your father went on a year-ish long spirit journey, in an attempt to find your spirit. He never managed it but he discovered a lot of things that changed his view point on the war and turned against it. In four years, the Avatar will return and need to master all four elements, before the end of the summer when the hundred-year cycle of Sozin’s comet repeats. Avatar Aang, along with his friends, which includes Zuko, defeat Fire Lord Ozai, and my grandfather, at sixteen becomes the new Fire Lord. He handles things as well as a sixteen-year-old, and his tween friends, can be expected to handle them and I suppose we should just be lucky that seventy-five years later, the planet is still standing, even if it is a political nightmare.”

“I’m going to bed,” Lu Ten said, numbly. Before Mako or Iroh, fucking Iroh, could stop him, Lu Ten turned on his side.

Mako tried to get him to turn back over but gave up after a few minutes of Lu Ten stubbornly not opening his eyes.

Lu Ten had been faking sleep for nearly an hour, when he heard a whisper from Iroh’s bed, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Lu Ten whispered back. “Not your fault, it’s just a stupid situation.”

Iroh laughed, as Mako shouted, “Really, you two? You’re going to whisper like we’re ten-year-olds at a sleep over?”

The three of them fell asleep soon after.

After that it was three days of them wandering aimlessly as they tried to figure out exactly what they were doing. Lu Ten had decided to push the idea of time travel out of his mind and focus on what was in front of him. 

Two hours into their travels the third day, they ran into trouble.

Lu Ten didn’t even notice at first, and had Mako not grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him down, he would have gone barreling right into the Fire Nation troop marching through the forest.

“Wonder where they’re headed,” Iroh asked. “They don’t look too large, might be a good trial run for this crazy idea. Have to start somewhere, right?”

“Maybe starting blind isn’t a good idea,” Mako replied. Lu Ten felt Mako’s breath across the back of his neck and had to resist a shiver. Mako had him basically pinned to the ground and Lu Ten was becoming uncomfortably aware of it.

“Might not have a choice,” Iroh countered. “We can find out where they are going, if its somewhere already conquered we move on, if it’s to meet up with more men we move on, but anything else we may be able to handle. I’ll go high,” he pointed up into the trees, “and listen in, you guys follow at a safe distance.”

“Wait,” Lu Ten said, noticing the bright red bird sat perched on a komodo-rhino’s horn, “Rozin, Iroh, whatever your name is, be careful. They have a messenger hawk and while humans might not notice you, it will.”

“Right, thanks,” Iroh said. “And for future reference just call me Rozin, the last thing we need is a slip up in front of the wrong people.”

Iroh disappeared through the tree foliage. Mako and Lu Ten remained were they were while the small troop marched past. There were about fifteen of them but most of them rode rhinos with cargo rather than with a second rider, which made them appear more numerous.

Lu Ten realized, as he watched them more closely, they wouldn’t need whatever Iroh overheard. Lu Ten knew exactly what kind of set up this was. This was a colony campaign.

Wherever they were going, they weren’t planning on leaving anytime soon, whether they camped outside of which ever town they planned to terrorize or they were allowed into the local inn, they were staying for the long run.

This could prove beneficial, but only if they stopped them before they reached whatever town they were headed to. They weren’t the heavy hitters. They were the test troops sent out to determine the type of resistance in the area. 

If a town allowed them in with little fuss, they were usually the only Fire Nation troops the town would ever meet. If a town resisted, it would get nasty, really quick.

“I think we can move now,” Mako whispered in his ear. Lu Ten nearly full body shuttered, as Mako’s breath ghosted over the shell of his ear. He needed to get off him now, before Lu Ten did something embarrassing. He thought he was over this type of behavior when he was sixteen, why did it have to persist into his twenties.

Mako had been slowly getting under Lu Ten’s skin, since Lu Ten had landed in Mako’s lap and gained a close up view of Mako’s face. It was a pretty face. Lu Ten wasn’t sure how he had missed that.

Mako finally got off of him as the last of the troop members rode past. Lu Ten wasted no time getting off the ground, once freed. The two followed along behind the troop silently, waiting for Iroh to rejoin them.

The solider at the back had started humming a song under his breath. It took Lu Ten a moment to remember why it sounded so familiar, it was the Four Seasons song. His father often hummed the tune himself when bored. It filled Lu Ten with a sense of nostalgia.

“Will I see him again?” Lu Ten asked, softly.

Mako hummed in question, slowing their pace so they wouldn’t be overheard.

“My father,” Lu Ten clarified. “Will I see him again?”

Mako was silent for a moment. “I can’t promise that,” Mako said, “but it’s highly likely that, should things remain relatively the same, you will. Korra supposedly met him in the spirit world once.”

“Who?” Lu Ten asked. Mako said her name like it was important.

“Ah, Avatar Korra, the avatar after Avatar Aang,” Mako replied. “She was a good friend of mine.”

The emphasis he put on his words told Lu Ten that Korra was a lot more than a friend. Lu Ten didn’t want to admit to himself why that idea bothered him so much.

Iroh nearly got fired, when he dropped down from the trees in front of Lu Ten.

There was a “shit” and a thump from next to him that told Lu Ten, Mako had become victim to Iroh’s spontaneous appearance too.

“A bell,” Mako said, standing back up from where he had fallen on the ground. “I’m getting you a bell.”

“That’s not very effective for being sneaky,” Iroh replied.

“Oh, really,” Mako said, pushing past Iroh, “why would anyone want to hinder you from being sneaky.”

“Do you want the information I found or not,” Iroh said, as he fell into step with Lu Ten, Mako having taken point.

“Yes,” Lu Ten replied, before Mako could.

Mako huffed from in front of them and though he couldn’t see his face, he had a feeling Mako was pouting.

“There’s a village north-east of here, a day or so out, called Hong Shu,” Iroh explained, “they are headed there. Not sure why though. The hawk kind of spotted me, and though it didn’t seem inclined to announce my presence, I figured it was best to leave.”

“They are more than likely a scouting party,” Lu Ten replied. “They have the numbers for it and the supplies for it. I think they may be attempting to scout out Hong Shu for colony purposes. We’d need to stop them before they reach the area, because any resistance, they face from the village will have just as bad of results as resistance in the colony. On the road is a different story. How big is this village? What are they after there?”

“Not sure,” Iroh replied.

“Pretty small, even in our time,” Mako said. “Like really small, but it’s a well-known vacation spot for the upper class of Republic City. It’s known for its forest landscapes and hot springs. All-natural spa resort. Not much else out there though. I’m surprised you don’t know about it, Crown Prince General.”

Iroh rolled his eyes at Mako. “Spas aren’t really my thing. I didn’t think they were your thing either, so why do you know that?” Iroh asked.

“I spent three years of my life as a bodyguard to a man who would have lived in a spa, if allowed,” Mako replied. 

“Wu?” Iroh asked, though he seemed to already know the answer.

“Yeah, Wu,” Mako replied fondly. He said Wu’s name in the same tone as Korra’s.

“So, why would the Fire Nation be interested in Hong Shu if there’s nothing out there?” Lu Ten asked, loudly trying to direct the conversation back to something he could participate in. He didn’t want to ask who Wu was, least he get an answer, he didn’t like.

“Might be a gateway town,” Iroh suggested. “Though I’m not sure what else is over that way.”

“I can’t think of anything either,” Mako replied. “It’s rather isolated.”

The three of them fell into silent contemplation as they followed behind the troops.

Lu Ten wasn’t the best a geography, and he had never seen a map of the Earth Kingdom with actual terrain or small villages listed, only those with either the colonies or Ba Sing Se. He’d never had a need to look at the others before.

What he did know wasn’t reassuring. They had only just crossed the Great Divide four days ago and had been wandering south through the forest for a while. North-east from here would be the same direction Ki Ha had gone. They didn’t want the village for scenic views or spa pools, they wanted it because of where it led to.

“They’re trying to cut off the refugee route,” Lu Ten said suddenly.

Iroh tilted his head and Mako groaned.

“That sounds about right,” Iroh said, “by the time my grandfather was wondering the Earth Kingdom, the only pathways available were the one we came through or the one through or around the Si Wong Desert.”

“Are you ever going to explain what Zuko was doing in the Earth Kingdom?” Lu Ten asked.

“Later,” he replied. “Now, we need to focus on stopping these troops.”

“How?” Lu Ten asked hesitantly.

“I have, a brilliant idea,” Mako said. The glint in his eye didn’t inspire much confidence, but they didn’t have many options.

Mako pulled them low to the ground, after they worked their way ahead of the troops. They had put on the mask Iroh had bought. Lu Ten hadn’t lied when he said they were a good idea, but he still felt silly wearing it. He also felt slightly like a coward but it really was for the best that their identities remain ambiguous.

“In our time, I worked for the Republic City Police, and it had a large population of metalbenders, an advanced form of earthbending, Avatar Aang’s earthbending master discovered,” Mako explained at Lu Ten’s confused face, “they had these metal cables that they used to swing from buildings and snatch people off the street. Anyway, they work well on animals too, even well-trained animals like Naga, Korra’s animal guide. If we can get one of those rhino’s feet tangled up, it will startle and then set the others off. With the riders abruptly dismounted, we should be able to round them up as they’re dazed.”

Lu Ten’s brow furrowed. “I thought you weren’t very good at earthbending? How are you going to metalbend something if it’s an advanced art?” Lu Ten asked.

“I’m not,” Mako replied. “We’re going to have to sacrifice out tent cables, but if Rozin actually knows how to use those knives he bought, and yes, I do know what you spent most of our money on, then he should be able to launch the cable with some accuracy. It won’t stick, but hopefully it will tangle.”

“But how will we round them up quickly?” Lu Ten asked.

Mako paused, but Iroh tapped him on the shoulder to gain his attention, before poking him in the seam of his shoulder. Mako’s arm jumped and he quickly moved away.

“Of course, you know how to chi block, why wouldn’t you,” Mako muttered. “You didn’t actually do anything to me did you?”

“I’m not stupid,” Iroh replied. “I wouldn’t turn off my own allies’ ability to bend or move their arm.”

“Right,” Mako said. “I’m also going to try that rumbling earth move, the canyon guide showed me, to really rile up the animals. Lu Ten you stay on standby in case any fires get started.”

It went off without a hitch. Lu Ten watched as Iroh launched the tent cable across the path in the center of the lineup. Lu Ten had suggested the center over the end or beginning in order to cause mass confusion and hopefully cut the group into two halves.

Iroh managed to catch not one but three rhinos in his rope and the riders got launched forward. Behind them the rhinos started bucking and one even turned around and took off, knocking his rider off on a tree branch. In front the rhinos tried to run off but took to bucking around when their riders pulled hard on their reins. The lead rhino wasn’t having it and rolled to its back and pinned the Captain in charge of the troops to the ground.

Iroh wasted little time, and by the time Mako made the ground rumble, already had half the men unable to move a leg here, or their whole body there. Mako had sunk a group of men into a hole he made appear in the ground, Lu Ten wasn’t sure when Mako had learned to do that but he wasn’t questioning it.

That was when Lu Ten noticed, the Captain regain his feet. At first, Lu Ten thought Iroh was too distracted bouncing around chi blocking people, to notice the Captain launching fire his way, but no, Iroh had just forgotten he wasn’t a firebender, up until he couldn’t block the flames headed towards his face.

He was lucky Lu Ten had already been moving to block them himself. The addition of Lu Ten seemed to startle the Captain, who reared back in shock as his own fire was dispelled and new flames headed towards his own face. He probably wasn’t expecting a firebender.

Iroh, once he got over his inability to firebend, launched back into chi blocking and even managed to pin one hard to catch soldier to a tree with water that he managed to freeze over.

Lu Ten was slightly started when the Captain sank into the ground in front of him. He turned to find that Iroh and Mako had every solider down, either stuck in the ground, to a tree, or unable to walk.

Mako was watching him as he walked over. The sun was hitting his eyes and Lu Ten was fascinated to find bits of green in them. That might explain why they were more yellowish than the usual orange-reds of the Fire Nation.

Lu Ten startled when Iroh patted his back. “Thanks,” Iroh said, “didn’t much want my face burned off.” 

Lu Ten didn’t feel like he did much. He wasn’t sure how well suited he was going to be to this ambush style fighting. He clearly got distracted with one on one battles, it was just what he was used to.

Iroh took the tent cable and used it to tie up the men who weren’t stuck in the ground. The rhinos were long gone, and so was the hawk. It would be a while before anyone found these troops.

“Who are you?” The Captain asked, glaring at the three men dressed in dragon masks, from his spot stuck in the ground.

Later, Lu Ten would regret what he was going to say, as Mako and Iroh would mock him mercilessly for it but, with Mako and Iroh’s spirit talk in mind, at the time, it really did seem like a good idea to say, “We’re the Sons of Agni.”

If Iroh could be dorky about his stupid festival masks, then Lu Ten could be dorky about their group name.

Over the next several months, they developed a similar pattern of operation. 

They helped more refugees find varying paths to Ba Sing Se, once going so far as to help one larger group across the Serpents Pass. Lu Ten could very much do without ever having to do that again.

They drove off more troops from various towns, and generally made a nuance of themselves. At one point, on a rather crazy bit of information, the three men had managed to reroute a cart full of mined coal away from the colony docks and back towards the Earth Kingdom.

When the Fire Nation attempted to send more troops in an attempt to overwhelm them, Iroh and Mako whittled them down to basically nothing. The Fire Nation soon realized, where the Sons of Agni were located, wasn’t a place they would be able to conquer easily. They eventually stopped trying. It had the advantage of keeping any towns they were rumored to be in, Fire Nation free, but the disadvantage of any towns proven to not be housing them, to become fair game to the Fire Nation.

The other thing that had changed in the past few months, was that Lu Ten had stopped trying to fool himself. What had started as an awkward crush had grown, but Lu Ten wasn’t going to ruin the group dynamic they had formed, trying to reach an unattainable relationship. He had resigned himself to suffering in silence.

It was worth it though, to have Mako and Iroh there with him at the end of the day.

Towns between the Great Divide and Omashu came to know them well, and many operated with the three men with little fuss, some even with great enthusiasm. While they usually stayed in the same area, they had occasionally branched out towards the southern part of the Earth Kingdom, an area that was typically free of Fire Nation influence, though often full of refugees. Their problems usually stemmed more from the Earth Kingdom, itself, than the Fire Nation.

The Fire Nation had stalled in the middle Earth Kingdom. If they ever did manage to slip past The Sons of Agni, they were quickly pushed back again. A few towns fell to colonization despite their best efforts, but for the most part they, and the towns they allied with, were able to hold their own. 

Iroh and Mako were right, it was easier to keep something safe, than it was to take it back. That didn’t make it any easier when they had to give under the pressure and turn a stronghold against the Fire Nation into a colony stop along the refugee trail, they had slowly been building.

Iroh, Mako and Lu Ten had slowly but surely become a communication network of their own, carrying news as far south as Goaling. They went where intel took them, and while occasionally it led them on a wild goose chase, it usually proved beneficial.

Every now and then, Iroh would get odd intel that brought them into strange situations. These missions always felt different from the rest and usually involved more espionage, than outright rebellion. Lu Ten was starting to notice a pattern to all these missions but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why the stupid white lotus tile was so important.

When he asked Mako, he just shook his head and told him he was better off not knowing.

It wasn’t easy, somedays Lu Ten just wanted to collapse into the dirt and not get up, as he did all those months ago, back before they agreed to started over. Other days, he’d walk through a town and see kids being actual kids, people walking fearlessly down the street and shops filled with Earth Kingdom products. The fact that he had a part in those things made it worth it.

Then, as all things do where the three of them are concerned, it caught up to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fight scene is questionable but I tried.
> 
> I may start updating both Sunday and Wednesday, until I start publishing Book 2.
> 
> Time jumps, all of the time jumps are about to happen. The rest of arc two jumps through the rest of their first year together then arc three gives certain moments of years 2,3 and 4 before Aang wakes up towards the end of year 4 and then we meet the gaang in book two in year 5.
> 
> If anyone is interested in seeing sketches of some ideas (Spoiler Warning!) for the story you can see them [ here](https://old-and-new-friends.tumblr.com/post/617863761990221824/art/)


	14. Poster Boys - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Mako finds a wanted poster of the Sons of Agni in the next two they came to, he knew their lives were about to get a lot harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Lu Ten has a panic attack due to PTSD from his assassination attempt. Also, Lu Ten be saying slurs again, but this time he didn't mean to. Violence, a lot of violence. War.

Mako felt ready to drop to the ground and sleep until he woke up in 175 AG again. Their last rebellion attempt had left them tired and coated in mud. Even Iroh, who stubbornly refused to get dirty, had mud coating his hair.

They had taken off their masks in the forest, as the town they were headed towards wasn’t one friendly to the Sons of Agni. Their masks would need to be cleaned before they wore them again anyway.

They had been causing mayhem in those masks so long at this point, that Mako kind of felt naked without it on as they walked towards the center of the town. Lu Ten was using his height advantage to try and find where an inn was located, while Iroh was aimlessly looking around, either for trouble or to cause trouble, there really was no telling with him, sometimes.

Mako saw the wanted board stood in the center of the town square and wandered over to it. It wasn’t often, but occasionally they could find information splashed across these boards. The only thing Mako found splashed across this board, though, was his and his friends’ faces.

Well, actually it was their masked faces. This wasn’t good.

_Wanted: Three males, aged late teens to late thirties. Known as the Sons of Agni. Wanted for destruction of military, public and private property, murder, thievery, unlawful espionage, assisting and supplying wanted criminals, and rebellion against Fire Nation rule._

_Known as the Blue Dragon: Male. Age ambiguous, though suspected early twenties to early thirties, could be as young as late teens or as old as late thirties. Height estimated at 5’9 – 6’0. Waterbender. Highly skilled combatant. Known crimes: attacking Fire Nation forces, espionage, thievery, and murder. Extremely dangerous. Civilians are highly encouraged to not approach. Suspect has been described as highly persuasive and deceptively charming. Known killer._

_Known as the Green Dragon: Male. Aged mid-twenties. Height estimated at 6’0 – 6’2. Earthbender. Highly intelligent combatant. Known crimes: destruction of property, aiding criminals, attacking Fire Nation forces and arson. Highly dangerous. Civilians are encouraged to not approach. Suspect has been described as unruly, quick to anger, and apathetic._

_Known as the Red Dragon: Male. Aged estimated at late-twenties to late-thirties. Height estimated at 6’3 – 6’6. Highly competent combatant. Suspect has yet to be tied to any crimes other than aiding and abetting but is highly suspected as the ringleader of the group. Moderately dangerous. Civilians may attempt contact with suspect, only if found alone. Do not approach if found with either accomplices. Suspect has been described as gentle and polite yet unyielding and contemptuous._

_If the locations of these men are known please contact local, or nearby, Fire Nation military._

_Reward for information: 50-1000 gold pieces. (Note: Only information that is validated as true qualifies for a reward, rewards are based on usefulness of information, only information leading to the death or capture of suspects qualifies for a reward above 500 gold pieces)._

_Reward for capture (dead): 15000 gold pieces (per head)._

_Reward for capture (alive): 2000 gold pieces (per person captured)._

Mako felt his blood run cold as he read the wanted poster. This was bad. This was really bad. He snatched the poster from the board and was surprised to see another poster behind it. Checking the board showed that the posters weren’t just posted bulletin style, they were flyers. The Fire Nation wanted the information spread as far as it could possibly reach.

Mako was shaking as he turned from the board to search for his friends. He had a mild panic when they weren’t still within his visible sight line.

He found Iroh talking to a shop owner. He had somehow convinced them to let him borrow a towel to wipe the mud off his face and body. They were pointing him in the direction of an inn. As Mako watched, the shop owner laughed, clapped Iroh on the back and handed him a change of clothes. Highly persuasive and deceptively charming.

Mako didn’t even pause has he marched towards Iroh. He grabbed his friend by the arm and dragged him away. The shop owner seemed shocked at the abrupt gesture, but didn’t object to the obduction of their conversation partner.

“Mako,” Iroh said, “What?”

Mako didn’t answer. He was too busy looking for Lu Ten.

He saw the youngest of their group sat outside a tea shop, blushing heavily as an old woman patted his hand. How Lu Ten had even ended up outside a tea shop, when he was looking for a place to stay the night, was beyond Mako. Lu Ten often ended up in random conversations with strangers. Lu Ten said something to the woman and shook his head. She seemed slightly disappointed but pinched his cheek and waved him off. Lu Ten bowed at the old woman before he started walking away. Gentle and polite.

“Mako,” Iroh called out, as Mako dragged him towards Lu Ten.

Lu Ten smiled brightly when the two approached him but it quickly dropped, as Mako said, “We have a problem. Let’s get a room and I’ll share what I just found.”

Mako was still shaking as Iroh leaned forward on the inn check-in counter, smiling and twisting the conversation till the price dropped in his favor.

Mako noticed Lu Ten watching him closely. In the past few months Lu Ten had taken to watching Mako a lot but this wasn’t the spaced-out staring that was typical. No, Lu Ten seemed concerned.

Lu Ten looked away ask Iroh approached empty handed. “She’s getting the key,” Iroh said, to his unasked question.

Lu Ten nodded and turned to watch the woman at the counter. “You know Ro,” Lu Ten said, “I think that Dust Bunny might like you.”

Mako’s eyes widened as he looked over at Lu Ten. He thought they were past throwing around slurs, but apparently not. The woman behind the counter tensed, having heard what Lu Ten said and Iroh launched into action, trying to smooth over ruffled feathers.

“I’m so sorry,” Iroh said. “We’re from the colonies and Lu picked up some bad habits there. I don’t think he knows what those words mean.”  
The woman looked wary and disbelieving.

“Yeah, I do,” Lu Ten said, offended. “It’s a cute term for a pretty Earth Kingdom woman.”

“No,” Mako said. “It might have been a cute term for a pretty Earth Kingdom woman, had the Fire Nation not coined the term to refer to pretty underage girls or women who look underage. It’s a slur, and one with bad intentions behind it.”

“Oh,” Lu Ten said, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Oh, I am so, so sorry.”

Lu Ten turn to face the woman behind the counter as he spoke. “I didn’t know,” Lu Ten said, everything from his body language and facial expression begged for forgiveness. “I can’t even begin to explain how sorry I am.”

The woman behind the counter relaxed slightly, at Lu Ten’s earnest face. “I forgive you,” she said, with a laugh. “Now you know, so I better not hear you say it again or you’ll be in trouble.”

She narrowed her eyes playfully at Lu Ten, before turning to Iroh. “Here’s your room key. Try to keep your baby brother out of trouble.”

“Uh,” Iroh said, his head tilted in confusion. She walked off into the office behind the counter before he could correct her. “Oh, well.”

“They don’t have a spare cot, but the room has two full sized beds rather than the usual twins so, you two are sharing tonight,” Iroh said, as he turned back to Mako and Lu Ten. He stomped up the stairs the two were waiting next two. Mako followed behind closely, forcing Iroh up the stairs even quicker than he was already going up them, remembering what had him so panicked earlier.

“Wait,” Lu Ten said, his voice sounded slightly off, as he tried to keep up with them, “why are we sharing?”

“Because I paid, with my money and I call sleeping in my own bed,” Iroh said. He gave Lu Ten a rather obnoxious wink and Lu Ten blushed heavily. Mako wasn’t sure what that exchange was about but he had a bigger issue to solve first.

“It’s fine,” Mako said, as the three walked into the room, “We need to talk about something. I found these wanted posters on the town center bulletin board. We are in serious trouble guys.”

Mako handed the flyer to Iroh and watched as the man’s brow furrowed and a frown took over his face.

“Fuck,” Iroh said, handing the flyer to a worried Lu Ten and collapsing back onto his bed.

Lu Ten snatched the flyer, reading through it quickly. “Oh, this is not good,” Lu Ten said.

“What do we do about it?” Mako asked. He’d had wanted posters made of him before but none of them had rewards this high for his death and capture. The Fire Nation really wanted them either dead or able to interrogate.

“What can we do?” Iroh replied. “We can’t just stop, everything we spent the past several months building will collapse without us maintaining it. We just have to play it safer. We won’t wonder out as far as we have been and we definitely won’t risk going into colony towns. I mean let’s be realistic here, this was kind of expected even if the bounty is really high.”

Mako turned to Lu Ten to gage his response. He looked confused as he re-read the wanted poster.

“What’s up, Lu?” Mako asked. It was a nickname that had stuck after using it so often in the Great Divide and other areas where Lu Ten’s full name might raise red flags.

“Why is my profile so different from the two of you?” Lu Ten asked. “They don’t list me as a firebender despite the fact that they should know that. They list me as both the ringleader and as an accomplice, as if I haven’t been next to both of you during every raid, every attack, and every rebellion. I mean, they list Mako as the arsonist, as if I’m not a walking fire hazard. The only one of us that’s lit a fire so far, has been me, so why do I have no crimes listed. Why am I approachable? Also, why did they list me so old?”

“Do you want to be a criminal?” Iroh asked, incredulously, as he sat up.

“No, not really,” Lu Ten replied. “I just want to know what their angle is. What’s the point in hiding the abilities of someone they want captured?”

“They probably just don’t want people knowing you’re Fire Nation.” Mako suggested.

Iroh nodded. “They might also be trying to keep your crimes low in case it does come out that you’re Fire Nation. Outright rebellion from one of their own isn’t a good thing. They’d want it kept hush, hush. It’s some pretty impressive propaganda. I didn’t even realize it. Good catch, Lu,” Iroh said. “As for your age, your voice is deeper now what you burned your throat, and you are extremely tall. Without your baby face, you probably do come across that old.”

Lu Ten stared down at the wanted poster a bit longer before sighing in disappointment. “I don’t know what else I should have expected,” he said, before lighting the flyer on fire.

“Hey,” Mako said. “Maybe I wanted to keep that.”

Lu Ten looked at him in surprise. “Why?” he asked.

“Maybe he wanted to frame it,” Iroh replied, as he laid back down on his bed, clearly intending to go to sleep. Mako was glad to know he was taking a poster calling for their deaths so seriously, it made him feel so much safer to know Iroh had his back.

“It would be useful to have,” Mako said, instead of starting something with Iroh. “Never mind, I’ll grab another one when we leave.”

“I can go grab you another one now if you want,” Lu Ten said, already starting to walk towards the door. Iroh seemed to find that amusing for some reason, as he started giggling to himself.

“No,” Mako said, “don’t worry about it. I’m going to go wash this mud off, you coming Lu?”

Lu Ten’s face was tinted pink. “Ah, no, you go ahead, I’m going to clean off the masks first,” Lu Ten said, attempting to hide his face.

“Right,” Mako said. He was slightly confused but didn’t bother mentioning it.

As he left the room, he heard Iroh say, “I’ve met dirt roads smoother than you.”

Mako really didn’t want to know what was up with those two.

Cleaning the mud and gunk from off his body made him feel better about the entire situation. Iroh and Lu Ten’s lackluster reactions to the bounty had pissed Mako off slightly but now that he was cleaned off and had time to step away from the situation, he realized they were right. There really wasn’t anything they could do about it but play things by ear.

When he got back to the room, he was surprised to find Lu Ten, cleaned off and already in his sleep clothes, curled up, asleep, on the bed Iroh had claimed. Iroh sat at the small dining table cleaning their masks.

“Did you change your mind about what bed you wanted to sleep on, Ro?” Mako asked. Ro was another nickname that had become common, since Lu Ten didn’t like calling him Rozin when his name was Iroh. It worked well for both names.

Mako was about to grab his bag and move it to the bed Lu Ten was on, when Iroh shook his head.

“Nah,” Iroh said, “Lu Ten’s sharing with me, instead.”

“I thought you wanted the bed to yourself?” Mako questioned.

Iroh threw Lu Ten’s mask down on the table, most of the mud had been removed from it but the mane needed to be brushed out. Iroh didn’t seem to concerned with it as he stood and walked over to the bed Lu Ten was sleeping on.

“I did,” Iroh said, with a shrug, “but I’ve been picking at him too much recently and figured I’d apologize by not making him sleep with the human earthquake.”

Mako rolled his eyes as he crawled into his own bed. “I don’t toss and turn that much.”

“Sure, sure,” Iroh said, blowing out the nightstand candle and allowing darkness to fall over the room.

Mako really was beginning to wonder about those two. He wasn’t sure if their change in behavior was simply because he now knew them better and noticed it, or if something really had shifted in their group’s dynamics.

The next morning, Mako was humored to find that, despite labeling Mako as the roughest sleeper, Lu Ten and Iroh had somehow ended up tangled together. Flameo, and yes Mako did know that stupid fire slug’s name, was squished between Iroh’s arm and chest.

Mako went down stairs to get breakfast, the woman at the front desk had, no surprise, developed a crush on Iroh at some point last night. Mako, though able to admit that Iroh was attractive, wasn’t sure where all this sex appeal apparently was. Iroh had never shown interest in anyone Mako had seen him interact with so far, so why people kept fawning over only him, when Mako and Lu Ten were also around, remained a mystery.

Mako waited while the young woman got them some food. While the woman didn’t say anything, Mako knew that the plate with the extra dumpling on it was Iroh’s. That wasn’t going to stop him from giving it to Lu Ten instead.

“Just leave it be,” Mako heard Lu Ten say, though the door.

He was surprised when he walked into the room, to see Iroh and Lu Ten awake and still sat side by side on the bed. Lu Ten was picking at Flameo, while Iroh seemed slightly disappointed by something.

“I got breakfast,” Mako said, in the hopes to dispel whatever conversation he seemed to have walked in on.

“Thanks,” Lu Ten said, leaning forward to grab the plate Mako handed him. He smiled softly when he noticed the extra dumpling.

“Where’s my other dumpling?” Iroh asked, after taking his own plate from Mako.

“On Lu Ten’s plate,” Mako said with a smirk. “Your lady friend downstairs thought she was being slick.”

Iroh huffed, but that was the end of their morning conversation. It was with unspoken agreement that the men left that village that day, not wanting to hang around their wanted posters any longer than they had to.

This was easier said than done, their posters had been spread far and wide. Typically, the three of them wandered from town to town in their masks, only taking them off in unfriendly areas or when they needed repair. Now though, they were safer with their real faces showing.

Even towns friendly with the Sons of Agni, had the wanted posters pinned to their boards, though they were usually covered to the point you couldn’t see them by other things, such as lost pet flyers and helper needed requests.

Mako, as well as Lu Ten and Iroh, had become slightly jumpy over the last few days. It was that jumpiness that saved their lives.

They were following a military supply caravan that was taking weapons and blasting jelly, out towards Gaipan, when a whistling noise startled Lu Ten.

He had turned towards the sound just in time for a set of bolas to swinging out towards him. The bolas wrapped around his feet, but it was enough warning that he was able to burn the cord and free himself before the attacker pulled.

It took a second for the attack to register in Mako’s brain, and in that time a flaming arrow would have sunk right into his skull had Iroh not sliced in it half. A loud explosion happened off to his left and Mako launched into action as a set of arrows headed his way.

Mako had learned over the past few months, and through his strange new mediation practice, how best to earthbend. He wasn’t the strongest, and wasn’t very good at making the earth do something it didn’t want to, but he was good at listening to it. 

Some places the earth was already pushing to the surface, like the area a foot in front of Mako that he pulled on and launched up into the path of the arrows. Other places were hallowed and ready to collapse inward at the next heavy force.

Mako pushed down on one of those areas, taking the man with the bolas down into the ground, komodo-rhino and all. There were several rocks already pulled loose from pervious earthbenders who came through the area, and Mako wasted no time launching them towards the man with the Guan Dao. They didn’t slow him down much, as he knocked them aside with his weapon.

It did however distract him long enough for Iroh to whip him off his mount with water. Iroh flipped over to the man and grabbed at the back of his neck. His entire body went limp as Iroh worked his way towards the archer.

The archer was struggling to land a shot on such a quick moving target, but Mako didn’t have time to help Iroh, as Lu Ten’s battle with the firebender and the pyrotechnic was quickly encroaching on him.

Lu Ten moved with an aggression, Mako rarely saw in firebenders outside of himself. He didn’t hesitate a second when throwing a punch or high kick. His flames knocked back the firebender for a moment but he missed the movement of the pyrotechnic.

Another explosion shattered the ground around Lu Ten’s feet and Mako took advantage by launching the small projectiles back at the man throwing bombs of all things. The man was knocked from his mount, which without a rider took off in Iroh’s direction.

Iroh barely rolled out of the way but luckily for them the rhino went charging right into the archer’s own mount. The archer was slammed back into a tree, knocked out cold.

This left the firebender and the pyrotechnic expert, who had regained his feet, even if his mount was lost, having run off into the woods.

The two men paused as they faced Lu Ten and Mako, Iroh flipping into place on Lu Ten’s right. Mako already positioned at his left.

Lu Ten’s hand was lit with fire, in preparation of a fight but the two remaining members held their attacks.

“What do you want, Colonel Mongke?” Lu Ten asked. His voice was hard, and full of that fire Mako so loved to hear.

“Well, the posters didn’t mention that,” the firebender, who Mako assumed was Colonel Mongke, said. “Firebender then, makes no difference. I’m still going to take you three in.”

“Really?” Iroh asked. “With what? A couple of sparklers and campfire? Don’t know if you noticed, but you’re down three men.”

Colonel Mongke didn’t seem pleased by Iroh’s statement, but seemed to finally realize that he was outnumbered.

Colonel Mongke grunted. “Those posters low balled the effort of bringing you boys in,” he said. “I’ll be sure to let the Fire Nation know I’m not handing you three over till they pay a bit more. Yeh-Lu.”

He nodded towards the three of them, and before any of them had time to react an explosive went flying towards Lu Ten. It landed at his feet and Mako, in desperation and despite the earth telling him it really didn’t want to collapse there, pushed the explosive under the earth.

That wasn’t the best idea.

The earth above the explosive launched outward throwing Iroh clear across the clearing they were in. Mako had slid several feet to the left as the earth rocked from the impact but Lu Ten was arguably worse. Half trapped under the rubble from the explosion Lu Ten appeared to have frozen in shock.

Mako realized with horror that he was having a panic attack. He was no doubt remembering Ba Sing Se

Colonel Mongke had dismounted his rhino and made his way slowly over to a dazed Lu Ten. He grabbed him by his hair. “Maybe,” the Colonel said, pulling Lu Ten’s head up, and reaching for his mask. “I’ll just take them the heads.”

Before the man could pull off Lu Ten’s mask, a bloody slash appeared across his face. Iroh had launched the water so quickly, Mako had missed it hitting Colonel Mongke’s face. The Colonel dropped Lu Ten and turned towards Iroh.

Iroh ducked under the flames shot towards his face but now he had the attention of both Colonel Mongke and the Yeh-Lu, pyrotechnic guy. Iroh held his own fairly well but he wouldn’t be able to keep up that pace for long.

Mako crawled over to Lu Ten and pulled the rocks off of him. Lu Ten was looking around him in a panic. Mako grabbed his face and pulled it till the two made eye contact. Lu Ten’s eyes were blow wide open and didn’t seem to register just who they were looking at.

“Hey, Lu,” Mako said. “Focus, man. Ro, needs our help.”

Lu Ten took in several deep straining breaths before his eyes finally focused in on Mako’s own. Lu Ten looked around himself, trying to figure out what he missed. His eyes went wide as he looked off to his right.

Mako followed his line of sight to see Iroh being held completely off the ground by Yeh-Lu and kicking uselessly. He couldn’t use his hands to waterbend as he was too busy trying to keep from being suffocated by the arm around his neck. 

Colonel Mongke, was reaching up to burn off the mask, and most likely Iroh’s face in the process. The amount of times someone has tried to burn Iroh’s face was getting ridiculous, and Mako was beginning to wonder if it wasn’t some joke between the spirits.

Lu Ten stood up on slightly shaky legs, then he did something Mako didn’t even realize he knew how to do.

Lu Ten’s left arm went out and circled back in, followed closely by his right. As his hands, pointer and middle fingers extended rather than clinched into the typical firebending fist, came together in the center electricity started building at his fingertips. 

Mako could feel his own hair stand on end, as Lu Ten launched the gathered lightning at Colonel Mongke’s back. The man seized up before dropping to the ground, his breathing was slightly ragged but he would live. Yeh-Lu dropped Iroh in shock. 

Iroh hit the ground and dragged in gulps full of shaky breaths. Waterbenders were supposedly able to hold their breaths for extended periods of time but Iroh had yet to practice at it. It would probably be at the top of his to do list after this.

Mako and Lu Ten ran over to gather Iroh up off the ground.

Yeh-Lu, being the only one left standing, seemed to understand that a retreat was on both sides’ agenda and left them be as they walked, or in Lu Ten’s case limped away.

They were all panting harshly but they didn’t stop moving until they felt like they were far enough away to be safe. Mako wanted them to walk a bit farther but Lu Ten’s leg collapsed out from under him. 

Iroh took that as a sign to hit the ground himself and curl into a ball around his stomach. Apparently, he had been hit there, but by who, what or when, Mako didn’t know. That pale blue light indicative of healing was shining out of the center of Iroh’s curled up form, so Mako figured it wasn’t anything too serious.

Lu Ten on the other hand was shaking from where he landed on the ground. He hadn’t moved from the position he landed in, his left leg curled around his right one that was bent and upright. Lu Ten had his whole body wrapped around it and was rocking back and forth. His breathing was erratic enough for Mako to realize he was having a second panic attack.

Mako vowed to never let another rock fall on Lu Ten as long as he lived, if this was what would happen.

Iroh let out a whine from his balled-up form. Maybe his injury was more serious than Mako gave him credit for.

Mako moved over towards the two men, Iroh rolling away when Mako tried to touch him. Lu Ten on the other hand gave no reaction as Mako grabbed his shoulder. He wasn’t aware enough to react.

Mako pulled Lu Ten till his body rested against Mako’s and held him tightly till the tremors stopped. Lu Ten’s breath eventually synced up with Mako’s own. When Mako went to check on him, he realized Lu Ten had fallen asleep.

Iroh had finally stopped his pained noises, and instead the soft snores he let out when sleeping on his back could be heard. With both of his friends out cold asleep, Mako tried to stay wake to keep watch.

They were lucky no one found them, because Mako woke up an unknown amount of time later, completely unaware that he had even fallen asleep. Lu Ten was still asleep, but Iroh was awake and messing with Lu Ten’s ankle.

“What’s the verdict, Healer Ro?” Mako asked. His words slurred in his mouth from how tired he still was.

“It’s not broken, just swollen, he twisted it,” Iroh explained. “I can fix it easy. It’s the mental damage he took from this that I can’t heal.”

Mako nodded. Mental trauma wasn’t a new thing for any of them at this point.

Iroh started healing Lu Ten’s leg.

“Do you know who those men were?” Mako asked.

“Rough Rhinos,” Lu Ten muttered.

Mako sat up so as to help Lu Ten also sit up. He then pushed Lu Ten over till he was staying up under his own power rather than half on top of Mako, himself.

“Who?” Mako asked, as Iroh groaned in irritation.

“Rough Rhinos were freelance, former military, bounty hunter types,” Iroh answered. “During the Hundred Year War they worked exclusively for the Fire Nation.”

“Colonel Mongke worked under my father before the Siege of Ba Sing Se,” Lu Ten answered. “Him leaving my father’s service was the entire reason I even held the position of Colonel under my father. The position was open.”

“Who were the others?” Mako asked.

“Don’t know,” Lu Ten replied.

“That archer was former Yuyan,” Iroh said, “I saw the markings on his face. He got me across the stomach earlier.”

Mako looked closer at Iroh and realized that there was in fact a huge hole gapping across the middle of his shirt. There was blood at the edges of the cloth and a closed wound peeking out behind it. It must have been fairly deep for Iroh not to have fully healed it.

“Ouch,” Lu Ten said, leaning forward for a better look.

I’m going back into the town we just came from, see if I can get our stuff,” Mako said. “You two stay here.”

Iroh nodded but didn’t say anything. Lu Ten just squeezed his leg before he stood up.

The last thing Mako saw before taking off into the trees, was Lu Ten leaning against Iroh. There had to be something going on there, Mako was sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is later than normal the formatting fucked up. Its a good thing I write ahead because I really don't feel like writing today after that, even though I had planned to.
> 
> This is arguably, my favorite chapter I have written so far, Chapter 18 and Chapter 20 being up their too. 
> 
> I forgot to mention in the last chapter's notes but the idea of Iroh's fake name came from mashing up Roku and Sozin's names which was why Iroh curse Agni when Lu Ten pointed out the Sozin part, because Iroh was able to put together the Roku part after. I though I was funny, and Agni probably did too.
> 
> Anyway the chapters pick up pace from the next chapter on and include year long time jumps. Arc three (chapters 16-24) is split into three mini arcs that I call, Lu Ten's arc, Iroh's arc and Mako's arc (in that order). They take place over the course of three years, each mini arc being a different year, and the last chapter ends the day Aang wakes up.


	15. June - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Iroh's birthday, and what started as a fun night, with a fun woman, ended in a kidnapping attempt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: alcohol, date rape (sort of?), woman left in semi venerable state.

It was fitting that he met her in June, his own birthday to be exact. It had been nearly a year since Lu Ten’s assassination.

The three men had laid low for a while after the Rough Rhinos incident, not wanting to risk getting caught like that again. No new missions were taken up, they were just maintaining what they already established. It left a sour tasted in Iroh’s mouth, but there was nothing to be done about it.

The Fire Nation had made several gains since putting up those wanted posters, and many towns that previously allowed the vigilantes into their village, would turn them away if they showed up masked. They had lost the faith of the people, but soon they would pick back up their usual pattern. They had just completed a test run mission of sorts.

It went off without a hitch, and now the three men were celebrating, both the mission and his birthday, in the inn bar of the town they just protected. The town was riled up with hope at the appearance of the Sons of Agni, but they weren’t bothering the three men joking at a table by the window, mostly because they didn’t know who they were.

Iroh walked up to the bartender to order another round, if only to get away from Lu Ten’s pinning and Mako’s obliviousness. What Iroh had originally written off as an awkward crush on Lu Ten’s part, was turning into something slightly concerning. They had spoken briefly about it, back before the Rough Rhinos incident but Lu Ten had kept quiet since, and Iroh had stopped teasing. Iroh just couldn’t figure out why Lu Ten wasn’t doing anything about it. 

As for Mako, he was proving to be rather dense on the whole matter. For Republic City’s best and brightest detective, Mako was a bit slow on the uptake about Lu Ten’s feelings.

Iroh looked back at his friends as he waited for their drinks. Lu Ten and Mako were seated in the same booth seat, Lu Ten’s left side was plastered to Mako’s right, though Mako didn’t seem to care. Across from them, Iroh noticed a new person had taken up residence in the seat Iroh had left empty. 

She was interesting to say the least. Iroh wasn’t really attracted to people but he could still tell when someone was conventionally attractive and while not conventionally pretty, she would fit the definition.

That wasn’t what had caught his attention though. What interested him was the aura around her. 

She had her hair in a half top knot with a skull head piece. The rest of her fit the death and dangerous motif, from the snake tattoos on her shoulders, to the dark and heavy makeup, to the pale as parchment skin. She was dangerous, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Iroh weighed a few things in his mind. On one hand he didn’t know her, on the other she looked like she’d be fun and have no hard feelings over a one-night stand, should things go sour. Then again, he wasn’t really in the mood, but he also wasn’t not in the mood.

Iroh flirted a lot, it was the only time, outside of bargaining that he’d consider himself talkative. It was fun, but never anything serious, for the most part. He wasn’t a very sexual person, but he occasionally found someone who hit certain cords in Iroh that made him curious enough to give it a go.

Iroh took a gamble, she wouldn’t know who they were, so she wasn’t there with intel. From her body language she was there because she was looking to pick one of them up. Iroh could be honest with himself, he was kind of hoping it was him.

Iroh flagged down the bartender and added a drink to his order, as he watched Lu Ten’s face crumple into confusion. The woman pointed towards Iroh and Lu Ten started laughing. Iroh wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Mako seemed amused and said something to her.

The bartender placed down their drinks and Iroh wasted no time making his way back to their table.

“What’s so funny?” He asked, placing the tray down. He gestured to allow the woman to slide out of the booth, not wanting to trap her, but she just raised an eyebrow in challenge. She was leaned back between the booth seat and the window watching him. Iroh slid in next to her instead.

“Rozin,” Lu Ten said, “this is June. She thought you were my little brother.”

Lu Ten’s voice cracked with humor as he said the word little.

It had happened more times than either Iroh or Lu Ten would admit to, them being mistaken for brothers but most people saw the grey in Iroh’s hair and figured he was the older one. Being mistaken for the younger sibling was new though.

That stung his pride slightly.

He slid the fourth drink he ordered towards her. Unlike Mako, who shamelessly drank down his watered-down beer, she seemed like a person who liked the heavier stuff.

“I was trying to figure out how old you were,” June said. Her voice was feminine but rough, and it sent a tingling sensation through Iroh’s body. “I don’t mess around with men too much younger than myself. Figured you were around my age but then I saw your brother and second guessed myself. At the very least, you know how to treat a woman.”

She nodded towards her drink before throwing most of it back. Iroh, fascinated with her mannerisms and character, nearly forgot Mako and Lu Ten were sitting across from them.

“I corrected her,” Mako said, with a wink. “You’re welcome. Happy Birthday.”

Mako gave Iroh a smug look over his drink. Lu Ten, who had finally stopped laughing, was watching where Mako’s lips toughed the glass with entirely too much focus, and was paying no attention to the conversation whatsoever.

“Three years younger is cutting it close,” June said, leaning forward towards Iroh, “But it’s not too young. If you’re interested, we can leave these two, to whatever their situation is, and go have some fun ourselves, yeah, Pretty Boy?”

Lu Ten snapped to attention at June’s words and blushed darkly. Mako, forever confused about Lu Ten’s behavior, asked June, “What situation?”

June didn’t answer, though Iroh could see her roll her eyes. Iroh thought about it, but it didn’t take much thought. He was up and out of the booth in seconds, June following him with her own brand of eagerness.

“Just so you know going into this,” Iroh said, as they reached her room upstairs, “I’m not the easiest person to get going.”

“Low sex drive?” June asked.

“No, just no sexual attraction,” Iroh replied. “I’m not exactly ready to go, so to speak but you seemed like fun, so I figured I’d go for it.”  
June smirked. “Oh, I can show you fun.”

Iroh shouldn’t have doubted her.

Five hours later and he could barely move without a sore muscle, Iroh didn’t even know he had, protesting. Lu Ten and Mako had no doubt gone to bed already and June, who was petting through his hair, didn’t seem inclined to let him leave.

“You know, Pretty Boy,” June said, scratching at his scalp. Iroh shivered at the sensation, if she didn’t stop soon, she’d start them back up again and Iroh wasn’t sure he had another round in him. “You surprised me. I didn’t think you had something that wild in you. You were right, that was fun. Makes what I’m going to do next a lot harder. For what it’s worth, Pretty Boy, I’m sorry.”

Iroh’s brain was sluggish, so by the time he realized what she said, a needle was already sinking deep into his arm. Whatever it was, worked quickly and Iroh stopped being able to feel his arm.

“Shh, I know it probably feels weird.” June said, still petting his hair. “It’s shirshu toxin. It paralyzes you, nothing more. You won’t be able to move for a while. By the time you can, we will be gone and your little friends will hopefully be following.”

“Waa?” Iroh said, his words slurring in his mouth. “Wy?”

“I’m a bounty hunter, Pretty Boy,” June replied, somehow understanding what he was asking. “It’s what I do, and I’m the best at what I do.”

Iroh’s body didn’t know how to react to the paralysis as June carried him towards her shirshu. Iroh wasn’t surprised at her strength, she had shown enough examples of it, tonight. At least she was nice enough to redress him before carrying him outside, though she didn’t give him his shirt back.

“Let’s go Nyla,” June shouted.

The shirshu took off, though surprisingly, not at a run. Then Iroh remembered that June wanted Mako and Lu Ten to follow, and realized walking would leave a more obvious trial.

Iroh had no clue where they were going, he couldn’t see anything from over the back of the shirshu and the toxin was making him think sluggishly. He hoped with everything he had, that Mako and Lu Ten would be able to find him.

It figures that the one time he has sex in this time period, and after a three year long dry spell, he would end up in this kind of situation.

Now that he knew the woman’s profession and that she had a shirshu, he knew exactly who she was. Oddly enough, he had met her once, in his previous time period, though she had been rather old at the time. It had been at his grandfather Aang’s funeral. Apparently, she knew them well enough for an invite, and well enough to bother showing up.

Iroh was surprised to notice feeling returning to his arm. Shirshu toxin usually lasted longer than this, unless it was administered to a firebender who could burn through it.

June didn’t seem to notice. Iroh stayed as still as possible, waiting until he was fully free of the toxin’s effects.

Then, Iroh noticed something else. June miscalculated, as Mako and Lu Ten had apparently been awake enough to follow them this entire time, hidden in the tree line. Iroh made eye contact with Mako and nodded.

Lu Ten wasted little time and shot a fireball at the bounty hunter. June, surprised at the unexpected attack, fell backwards onto Iroh. Iroh used this to his advantage, looping the handcuffs she had put on him around her head till they were trapped together.

The only way the two of them were getting unstuck is if she unlocked them.

“How quaint,” she said, as she tried to tug free of the chains. She seemed disgruntled at the entire situation.

“Isn’t it?” Iroh said, his voice hard. “Key, now.”

June unlocked the handcuffs and Iroh immediately pushed down on a pressure point that had June jerking away from him in pain.

Under Iroh’s advice, Mako launched a rock at the shirshu’s nose, he had gotten good with small projectiles. It wasn’t enough to damage, but it did disorientate it. The three were gone before June and Nyla re-orientated themselves.

Lu Ten and Mako still had to help Iroh stumble through the forest. After a short debate, Iroh ended up on Lu Ten’s back, as Mako carried all of their supplies.

Iroh buried his face into Lu Ten’s back. He didn’t want the two of them to see how messed up he was by this. Iroh felt violated, but on top of that he was just generally upset.

Iroh didn’t fall in love with people. He didn’t fall in lust with people either. He did, however, get along well with other people. He liked them, even if he didn’t always get along with them. He was still a people person, as odd as that sounded with him being an introvert. People took a lot of energy, but Iroh still liked being around them. Iroh loved people.

It took a lot of trust for Iroh to go with June. Most people he slept with didn’t get it, and he doubted, she really understood what little he explained to her either. Iroh still cared, deeply about people, even those he just met. He wasn’t incapable of love or unfeeling, he just, didn’t do the whole “until death do us part” and “my one and only” thing.

Iroh had his people, as few as they were, and they meant what they meant to him. He loved them all, he had sex with some, he called some family even if they weren’t, he called some friends, and sometimes they crossed boundaries to something closer to domestic partner but Iroh wasn’t really that concerned with titles. June, though she probably didn’t know it, had the potential to be one of Iroh’s people. It hurt that she didn’t seem to think, or want, the same.

Lu Ten and Mako eventually slowed down and Iroh finally slid off Lu Ten’s back, now able to walk under his own power.

“How did you guys know to come after me?” Iroh asked. “I thought you two would have been asleep.”

Mako snorted. “Congratulation Iroh, you were saved by Lu Ten’s small bladder’s inability to hold it through the night,” Mako said, jokingly. “Lu Ten freaked me out when he woke me up saying someone was carrying you out of the inn. That June woman’s pretty strong, isn’t she?”

Lu Ten blushed. “Didn’t realize it was a crime to pee during the night, so sorry,” Lu Ten said, poking Mako in the ribs. Mako flinched away, nearly slamming into Iroh.

Iroh shook his head at the two, content to let silence fall over the group as they continued walking.

They settled down at noon.

Iroh sat, watching Mako attempt to teach Lu Ten how to put up a tent properly. Lu Ten claimed he learned it in his advanced military training but he apparently didn’t bother to retain anything as the tent was very lopsided. Mako’s attempt wasn’t much better. Iroh was usually the one who put it up.

Iroh must have zoned out because Lu Ten was holding a bowl of rice in his face.

“Mako made dinner,” Lu Ten said, as Iroh took the bowl. “Are you okay? You’ve been spaced-out this entire time.”

“Yeah, man,” Mako said, “you’re usually quiet but not this quiet.”

“Just,” Iroh paused but figured if he was going to tell anyone it would be these two, it wasn’t like he could write Jinora about it. “I just feel really used. I genuinely thought she was a cool person and I really wanted to spend time with her. I’m not,” Iroh trialed off, “it took a lot for me to trust her and she broke it.”

Iroh decided to just go for it. He just hoped they would understand.

“I’m asexual,” Iroh said. Mako seemed surprised, while Lu Ten had a blank look on his face. Iroh realized with surprise, that it wasn’t a term in this time. 

“It means I don’t experience sexual attraction,” Iroh explained. “I’m also aromantic.”

“So,” Lu Ten said slowly, “you also don’t experience romantic attraction?”

Iroh nodded.

“But,” Mako said, “you just had sex. That’s what you and June did right?”

“Yeah,” Iroh replied. He really hoped they would get it. “Sexual attraction isn’t the only reason someone might have sex. Asexual isn’t always someone who doesn’t like sex. There are people who are sex-repulsed but I’m not one of them. I like sex. It’s fun, it’s good exercise, it’s a way to unwind. It’s a way to connect with people, but that doesn’t make me physically or sexually attracted to anyone. June seemed like a fun person, and interesting but I wasn’t exactly aroused until we, well, never mind.”

Iroh scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Aw man,” Mako said, pouting, “Spill.”

Iroh rolled his eyes.

“And the aromantic thing works the same way?” Lu Ten asked. “You don’t do romantic attraction but you do romance?”

“Eh, no,” Iroh replied. “I don’t experience romantic attraction, nor do I do romance. I have never, even once in my life, wanted to ask someone on a date. Even the few people I’ve had sex with over the years were just friends. I’ve never been into the whole forever and always only you, thing. I don’t want to get married for that exact reason. That doesn’t however, mean I choose to live my life alone only ever venturing out to have occasional sex. I love people, I do, I just don’t do what society defines as a romantic relationship. I’ve had a few domestic partners over the years and QPRs but really, all I want is friends who understand. Close friends, not the distant friends I had back in Republic City.”

Iroh looked really hard at the two men, practically begging them to understand, as he said, “I am capable of love, please don’t think I’m not, that’s not what aromantic or asexual means.”

“Do you remember when I first found out my uncle tried to kill me?” Lu Ten asked.

Iroh nodded, slightly confused at the unprompted topic change.

“You pulled me up out of that bed and bathed me,” Lu Ten said. “You made sure I was okay. Maybe you didn’t love me or care much for me back then but anyone able to show that much care and compassion for someone, is capable of love. I wouldn’t think otherwise.”

Mako nodded. “We know you can love, Iroh,” Mako stressed Iroh’s real name, “We know.”

Iroh felt a soreness build up in his throat as Mako finished talking. He buried his face in his hands to keep them from seeing him cry.

“You two come from a family of criers, don’t you,” Mako said. Iroh felt a hand land on his back, awkwardly rubbing up and down it. “Just my luck. I can’t handle crying people.”

“Mako,” Lu Ten said, warningly. Iroh felt a warm presence press up against his side. 

“What?” Mako said. “This is twice now I’ve been cried on by a Prince of the Fire Nation.”

Iroh laughed, it came out slightly choked due to the huge knot in the back of his throat.

“What’s a QPR?” Lu Ten asked, after Iroh had finally calmed down.

“Queer Platonic Relationship,” Mako answered. “It’s a platonic relationship that doesn’t fit societal standards of what platonic relationships, namely friendships, should be.”

“Oh,” Lu Ten said.

The camp fell silent for a while before Lu Ten shocked Iroh with his next question.

“Are we in a QPR?” Lu Ten asked.

Mako choked on nothing.

Iroh hummed. “Do you want to be?” Iroh asked. Lu Ten looked confused. “We already have a platonic relationship. No society I know of would think the things we do on a daily basis are normal friend behavior. We spend literal days together non-stop. We kind of already agreed to spend the next five years, at the least, together. You can say it’s a normal friendship pushed to the limits due to hardships and leave it at that or we can define it as a QPR but that’s up to you and Mako. I’m fine with it either way.”

“I don’t know,” Lu Ten said, he glanced over at Mako. Mako just shrugged at him.

Iroh wasn’t surprised at that, it took people time to wrap their minds around certain concepts. The two could work out their feelings on the matter and get back to him later. He wasn’t too fussed about the definition of their relationship. He loved them the way he loved them. They could define it how they wanted. He told them as much.

“I don’t particularly care how my relationships are labeled. I love you guys, and you love me back. We set the standards we accept in our relationship and go. That’s all I need.” Iroh explained.

“I think I’d like the idea, but,” Lu Ten hesitated slightly.

“But?” Mako prompted.

“I have a few other things I have to work out first,” Lu Ten explained, glancing at Mako. 

Mako nodded. “I’ll get back to you on that,” Mako said. “I’m not against the idea, I just need to figure out where I stand.”

“That’s fine,” Iroh said, leaning back on his hands. “Just let me know, if and when any boundaries change or if I’ve happened to cross an unspoken one. I don’t pick up social cues the best so please, tell me.”

“Boundaries like?” Mako asked.

“Anything,” Iroh replied. “We don’t even need to call our relationship a QPR for you to ask for more affection or less affection. If I don’t want to do what you ask, I’ll say no and we can work from there.”

Mako nodded. “Right, I’m going to go to bed now before we get into anymore heavy conversations. Don’t wake me up unless we are about to die.” Mako said.

Mako crawled into the tent. Iroh wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or vomit, as Lu Ten’s eyes stayed firmly glued to Mako’s ass.

“Are you ever going to tell him?” Iroh asked, once Mako’s snores could be heard through the tent.

Lu Ten glared at him.

“You know he’s bisexual right? Mako’s out and proud,” Iroh said. Bisexual apparently was a term in this time, as Lu Ten seemed to know exactly what it meant. He didn’t seem too excited though.

“Yeah, and?” Lu Ten asked. “Has he ever over the past year seemed interested in me?”

Iroh paused and had to concede to Lu Ten’s point. As much as he hated the defeated look on Lu Ten’s face, Mako didn’t seem too interested in Lu Ten past friendship. Then again, Mako kept things close to his chest, unlike Lu Ten and Iroh who freely expressed themselves.

Iroh switched tracks and grabbed a comb from his bag. Lu Ten’s hair had been down for the past year because he still didn’t know how to put it up. It now fell past his shoulders.

“Let me fix your hair,” Iroh said, attempting to change the subject. “I’ll teach you how to do it yourself, later. Then you can go to bed. I screwed up. Let me take full watch tonight.”

Lu Ten didn’t argue and after a while said, “I think my boundaries changed. If you’re not against it, I’ve always been a touchy person. I kind of miss it. Just, things like this are nice.”

“I don’t mind,” Iroh said. “We can try.”

Lu Ten fell asleep before Iroh had finished. Iroh spent the night petting Lu Ten’s hair instead. He’d put it up in the morning.

They made it to a new town the next night. Too tired to function the three of them rented a room and crashed on the double bed. It wasn’t the first time the three of them had curled up together in one bed but after their conversation the night before, it seemed more intimate. 

Being piled up on a bed together, made it obvious when Lu Ten stood up and walked from the room. Mako was still asleep, and would likely remain so until the roof caved in and caught fire. 

Iroh had little issue following Lu Ten. Lu Ten wasn’t exactly a small man and was easy enough to spot in crowds, whereas Iroh tended to blend into shadows with little effort.

Iroh felt his blood run cold, and then hot, as he watched Lu Ten enter the town bar. Reined up outside the bar, with two ostrich horses, was a shirshu, June’s shirshu. What was Lu Ten doing?

Iroh snuck into the bar behind Lu Ten, ordered a beer, and sat at the table next to where Lu Ten sat across from June. June shouldn’t notice him, sat behind Lu Ten, and Lu Ten definitely wouldn’t notice him unless he turned around.

“You know,” June said, “If you wanted me to lose your trail, maybe leaving things with your scent behind wasn’t a good idea. How’d you know I was in town?”

“I saw you,” Lu Ten said, “on our way into the inn.”

“And you didn’t leave?” June said, sardonically. “Are you boys looking to get killed?”

“No,” Lu Ten said. “Because you’re going to leave us alone.”  
“And why would I do that?” June asked.

“Because I’m going to make you,” Lu Ten said, clamping his hand down on her wrist. “You hurt Rozin, a lot, with what you did. Now you either leave us alone, or you disappear, your choice.”

June seemed freaked out, and tried to pull her arm away from Lu Ten’s grip. Her face relaxed when she saw Iroh stand up from behind Lu Ten. Iroh placed his hand on Lu Ten’s shoulder. Lu Ten flinched, dropping June’s wrist.

June launched back from the table, but she didn’t leave. There was a red mark on her arm, caused by the heat of Lu Ten’s hand. It wouldn’t be a burn but it probably wasn’t comfortable.

“Lu,” Iroh said. “I can handle this, go make sure Mako’s okay.”

“Ro,” Lu Ten said, his voice breaking slightly. Iroh moved his hand from Lu Ten’s shoulder to run though his hair. Lu Ten leaned into the touch. “Alright,” Lu Ten replied. He glared at June as he left.

“Thanks, Pretty Boy” June said, watching Iroh with caution. “What’s up with you two then? I though he was pinning after tall, dark and dorky.”

“Why?” Iroh asked, rather than acknowledge what she said. “Why the charade, why not just grab all three of us in our sleep, why trick me?”

“I figured a reward as high as what you all came with, would need something trickier than my usual plan,” June replied. “I figured if I got one, the others would follow. You looked the easiest to grab. I was right, but you three are even more slippery than I planned for.”

Iroh nodded and sighed as he rubbed over his face.

“I didn’t realize you’d get this attached,” June said, surprisingly soft. “You seemed more independent than that. From what you said before we started, I figured you were a one and done kind of guy.”

Iroh laughed, humorlessly. “No,” Iroh said. “I keep friends, sometimes, that I had sex with and felt safe around, so whenever we meet up, if I’m in the right mood, we can have some fun, either sexual or not. They usually give up when they realize I’m not going to change. I miss them sometimes. I was hoping, after, that you’d want something like that, then you poisoned me so I guess that’s a no.”

Iroh gestured towards the door, directing June to join him outside. As she walked past Iroh snatched the bag at her hip off her belt.

June waited till they were outside to say, “If you weren’t a target, it would have been a yes. Sounds like exactly the type of relationship I need on the road like this.”

“You know the Fire Nation put that target on our backs so we would stop helping the Earth Kingdom resist right?” Iroh said. “You don’t seem like someone that desperate for money, so why bother with such hard to get targets, who ultimately cause good in the world?”

“You may assume I don’t have a moral code, Pretty Boy, but I do,” June said. “I’m like you, mixed heritage, Earth Kingdom father, Fire Nation mother, I don’t have loyalty to any nation, but you’re not wrong. Usually I wouldn’t touch a mission like yours but the Fire Nation hired me directly and it was your skin or mine.”

Iroh hummed. “I suppose that’s as good a reason as any,” he said, reaching up to brush the back of his hand across her bare shoulder. June didn’t think anything of the movement till one of her own shirshu needles was sticking into her shoulder.

June looked at the bag of needles held in Iroh’s hand in shock and, if Iroh was reading her face right, slight respect.

“Well, damn,” June said, as her legs collapsed under her. “Looks like Pretty Boy has some bite.”

Iroh smirked at her as he approached her shirshu, Nyla. He waved his beer in the creature’s face, Nyla shook her head and sniffed around. The bar was driving her crazy but she was tied tightly to the post and wasn’t going anywhere. Iroh was just trying to clear the beast’s senses.

With that done he went through June’s things, searching out whatever it was she was using to track them. It was his shirt. He took it and, noting nothing of real importance, that couldn’t be easily cleaned in the bag, a few blankets and other tracking items, he poured his beer in it to mask the scent.

“You know,” Iroh said, leaning down to where June was laid on the ground next to Nyla. “I really liked you June.”

June glared at him, but there was a playful undertone to it. “I like you too, Pretty Boy,” she said weakly.

Iroh smiled. “I’d say see you later but I kind of don’t want to, if you’re hunting us down,” Iroh said.

“Contract’s off, you three are too much to bother with,” June said, staring up at him in curiosity. “If we meet again, I wouldn’t mind doing something fun.”

Iroh leaned down close to June’s face. She leaned up, almost as if expecting a kiss. “Maybe,” Iroh whispered before standing fully and walking off.

June would be fine. Nyla, now no longer distracted by the smell of beer, seemed to have figured out her owner was on the ground. When Iroh looked back at the inn door, he could just make out the shirshu protectively wrapped around June.

As he crawled into bed, Mako still out cold and Lu Ten sat up waiting for him, he thinks he may be fine too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope I got Iroh's sexuality across right in this chapter. I re-wrote it like three times.
> 
> Iroh's birthday is June 3rd for anyone interested. Mako's is November 25th and Lu Ten's is March 31st. Mako is 2 1/2 years younger than Iroh and 2 1/2 years older than Lu Ten. That wasn't intentional I wanted him 3 years younger than Iroh and 2 years older than Lu Ten but Mako just felt like a fall baby to me, while Lu Ten is canonly a spring baby and Iroh screamed June baby.
> 
> June, the person, will be back. I hope everyone is okay with that. I tried to get across that Iroh and June had their tit for tat and have evened back out their score with each other enough to burry the hatchet and start over because I kind of fell in love with their potential friendship and hated to end it here.
> 
> For anyone wondering, Lu Ten was fully prepared to kill June and never tell the other two he did so, if she didn't back down. He still has his terrifying Fire Nation Royal Family Member Moments.
> 
> I noticed as I was editing this that I had Mako teaching Lu Ten how to "pitch a tent" and now I'm dying over the unintentional innuendo, particularly because if you continue the innuendo, the asexual one is the only one who knows how to "pitch a tent".
> 
> Also, as I was editing my tags I noticed that my tags say "There is no war in Ba Sing Se", "Ba Sing Se", "War" in that order and I'm just extremely good humored now.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	16. Burned - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The men take up a mission that hits close to home for Lu Ten, way closer to home than it had any right too. Meanwhile, Mako finally learns to ask for things he wants, now if only he could figure out what he wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: discussions of loneliness, slight discussion of forced intimacy, major character injury, war, children of war
> 
> IMPORTANT: I'm not updating this Wednesday because I have to work on Wednesday due to having memorial day off, but I will be updating tomorrow, so there's that.

They slowly got back into the swing of things after Iroh’s disaster one-night stand.

Mako never really got an answer as to why Lu Ten and Iroh were so convinced that June was going to leave them alone but it was nonetheless true.

After June’s failure to capture them, their bounty had gone through the roof. No self-respecting bounty hunter would bother with a reward that high, it was clearly an impossible hit, if the price kept rising. If both the Rough Rhinos and June failed, apparently everyone else wouldn’t bother.

Summer was long gone now, though it was hard to tell at times in certain parts of the middle Earth Kingdom which, being along the equator, often stayed the same year-round. Though the more agreeable weather in both the north and the south, told Mako, that spring was starting to move in.

They had reached several milestones over the past few months. They studiously ignored Lu Ten’s assassination anniversary, steering clear of the colonies, where white mourning flags hung everywhere. They did the same for Fire Lord Azulon’s death anniversary, out of respect for Lu Ten, who still loved his grandfather dearly, even if he was an imperialistic asshole. Lu Ten, the absolute dork he was, had wanted to celebrate their one-year anniversary of agreeing to not kill each other, but that got derailed by a Fire Nation attack. Mako’s twenty-fifth birthday proved rather wild, with the three of them nearly getting arrested for disorderly conduct.

The most recent milestone they celebrated, not even two weeks ago, was Lu Ten’s birthday. They had gone out drinking, Mako staying the most sober, as usual. He wasn’t a heavy drinker and usually ended up corralling his wayward Princelings back to bed after one too many.

A slightly chilly breeze was blowing, as the three of them sat outside a tea house, Iroh being extremely disgruntled with this fact, of a new colony. The town had fallen to the Fire Nation, while the three men had been busy running from bounty hunters and unable to stop it. 

Trying to determine if it would be easy enough to liberate, was proving challenging, as no one appeared to want to talk with the new strangers. Not even Iroh’s sweet talking or Lu Ten’s boyish smile was working. 

It was a peaceful day. Lu Ten’s tea cup sat empty in front of him, as he had his feet kicked up in Iroh’s lap, a book in hand. Iroh was drawing shapes and figures on Lu Ten’s heal, a heavy frown on his face.

Iroh had been slightly more hesitant to connect to others they came across, at least as far a sex went, but Mako wasn’t sure if that was entirely due to June, or not. Whatever had gone on there, seemed to have been sorted out, as Iroh appeared to move past it quicker than Mako was expecting. Something told him, Iroh’s resistance was more personal and tied to their changing group dynamics, almost as if he was waiting for something. Mako hoped it wasn’t him, Iroh was waiting on.

After Iroh’s coming out, a little under a year ago, Lu Ten and Iroh’s affection towards each other had grown exponentially. The two often hung off of each other, and Mako was pretty sure Iroh was styling Lu Ten’s hair every morning, he just had no proof because he never woke up that early. 

Mako on the other hand, was still spinning his wheels on the matter. He wasn’t sure what he wanted from the two of them, he just knew that watching them be affectionate towards each other while he was still distanced, made his body ache as if he was missing something. He just couldn’t figure out what.

It didn’t help that the two of them were still acting odd, as if hiding something from Mako. It only added to the distance he felt forming between them, but Mako wasn’t sure if the distance forming was because of them or himself.

Lin’s voice echoing through his head telling him to talk it out, wasn’t helping either. Mako wasn’t touchy-feely, so he couldn’t figure out why he wanted to be touchy-feely with Iroh and Lu Ten. Until he did figure it out, he was going to keep quiet about it, because he didn’t know what to say.

Lu Ten abruptly sat up, pulling his feet from Iroh’s lap and sending a bright smile towards Iroh, as he showed him something in his book. Mako wanted to be smiled at like that. It was with a sinking feeling in his stomach, that Mako realized this was the same feeling he had back in his original time, before Agni dragged him here and away from the Krew, as Bolin called them. He felt left out.

Iroh said to let him know if and when any boundaries changed, but Mako wasn’t sure if they had changed. At least, not with Iroh, or maybe not with Lu Ten. Mako’s brain was just so mixed up over touch. The only one he allowed to touch him freely was Bolin. It had caused issues in his relationships before but now Mako was really struggling.

Mako’s heart pounded painfully at the thought of his brother. He’d been gone from him for over a year now. Mako hadn’t touched anyone, outside of the occasional pat on the back or shoulder bump in over a year.

Mako felt like he had been struck by lightning. He was touch starved.

That was his issue, he didn’t want the intimate teasing touches Iroh gave Lu Ten, he just wanted someone to breath with, to exist with and know that he’s safe, that they are both safe. He wanted someone to hold on nights when he felt alone, but not as a lover, at least he didn’t think so.

Lu Ten’s smile, now turned on him, made him question that slightly. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Lu Ten. The younger man had certainly grown into a fairly impressive force of nature, and Mako liked it, but Mako wasn’t feeling the same energy as he did with Korra, Asami and Wu. Lu Ten confused him even more than Iroh did.

Lu Ten was frowning at him now, which made Mako realized the book had been placed in front of him. It was an older World Almanac style book. The page Lu Ten was trying to show him, had a bunch of animals native to the Poles on it, as drawn by some who had never seen those animals a day in their life.

Iroh had an amused smile on his face, as Mako took in the absolute tragedy that was supposed to be a polar bear dog.

“They don’t look like that,” Mako said.

“Ro, said as much,” Lu Ten said, with a sigh. “I figured they didn’t, the dragons in this book are really interesting but horrifically wrong. What does a polar bear dog look like then?”

“They are big enough that three grown adults, at the least, can fit on the back of one comfortably,” Iroh said.

“I forgot you rode Naga, once.” Mako said. “Korra’s polar bear dog was about your head height, when down on all fours. It’s the size of a bear and sort of has the face of a bear but it’s body moves like a dog.”

Lu Ten hummed. Mako regretted bringing up Korra. Lu Ten always seemed put out, when they brought up the people, they knew but he didn’t.

“Excuse me, young men,” a woman’s voice said, from behind Mako and Lu Ten.

The three turned towards the voice. The woman was older than them by a good twenty years. She seemed worn down by something and extremely hesitant.

“Morning,” Iroh said, his signature, trust me, smile on his face. “Can we help you?”

“I hope so,” she said, nervously, “Would you boys be willing to help me with something? At my home?”

Mako looked back at Iroh and Lu Ten. They both looked as hesitant as he did. Iroh tilted his head and Lu Ten nodded. Provided the woman didn’t have an army hidden in her kitchen, whatever reason she had for dragging them to her house, shouldn’t be something they couldn’t handle.

When they walked into her living room, she locked the door and closed the curtains. Mako was about to question her on her odd behavior, when she did the worst thing she could possibly do.

She started crying.

“Please, help me,” she said. “I hope that old man didn’t send me to the wrong people but I’m so desperate at this point. The entire town is.”

“Hey, hey,” Lu Ten said, gently moving towards the woman and helping her sit. Over the past few months Lu Ten had shown a softer side, and a surprisingly compassionate soul, considering how he behaved a little over a year ago. “Start from the beginning, what’s going on?”

“A few weeks ago,” the woman started, “the Fire Nation came. Our men fought back, and they had to retreat. The Fire Nation came back with more people and this time they took them. They took our earthbenders, they took my sons, all three of them. Yong was only twelve. I don’t know where they took them. Hui, the old man who owns the vegetable cart, says you three are the Sons of Agni. He gave me this,” she said, holding up a Pai Sho tile, “and said to give it to the eldest.”

Iroh reached over to grab the tile. It was a lotus tile, of course it was. On one hand, Mako was humored by Iroh’s resistance to his forced recruitment into the White Lotus Organization. On the other hand, he really disliked the White Lotus Organization and wanted them to get their hands off Iroh. The only reason he didn’t put a stop to it was because they were, in fact, useful in instances like this.

“Please,” the woman begged again, “please help me, help this town.”

Lu Ten rubbed her back. “We promise to try our best to get your people home. We can’t promise that we will but we can try. Do you have any more information that could help us find them quicker?”

“The rumors in town say that they are being taken to a prison barge. That’s supposedly what happened to the other towns in the area. No one actually knows anything though.” She said, her voice breaking.

“Right,” Lu Ten said. “That’s enough to start with. Thank you.”

They awkwardly left the woman crying in her living room, as they made their way to grab their things. They knew exactly where they needed to go.

While the three of them had never been dumb enough to try and liberate the actual prison barge, they had stopped several prisoner caravans from reaching port in the past. Once they reached port, and shipped out to sea, there wasn’t much they could do for them with only three people. They key was freeing them somewhere the prisoners could fight back, namely on land.

They needed to move quickly.

On their way out of the town, Iroh chucked the lotus tile, as hard as he could, at the vegetable cart, behind which stood a rather intimidatingly fit old man. The man laughed in good humor as the small tile bounced off the larger painted tile on the sign of his cart.

Iroh huffed in irritation.

“Are the two of you ever going to explain why old men keep bothering Ro with lotus tiles?” Lu Ten asked.

“No,” Iroh said, stomping off into the lead position.

Mako laughed as he fell into step next to a pouting Lu Ten.

“So, what’s the game plan?” Mako asked. Iroh slowed his temper tantrum stomp, till he was in step only a bit ahead of them.

“We are going to have to catch them at the port,” Lu Ten said. “There’s no other option. That port town has several different roads that lead into it. It’s not like we can stop them on the road leading in, when we don’t know what road to ambush.”

“Great,” Mako said, “and how are we going to know which caravan is going to be this town’s?”

“Hopefully,” Lu Ten said, “there will only be one.”

“And if there is more than one?” Iroh asked. “As much as it sucks, we can’t liberate all of them at once, not in the actual port town. It would cause too much chaos. They wouldn’t be able to escape. They’d have to stand and fight, which might get them caught again. It might get us caught, too.”

Lu Ten sighed. “I don’t know but I don’t want this group to slip through,” Lu Ten said. His voice sounded slightly desperate.

“Why? What’s more important about this group?” Mako asked, surprised at what Lu Ten just said. While, Lu Ten typically hated having to give up on a rescue mission or sabotage operation, taking each defeat as a personal failure, no matter how many times Iroh or Mako tried to get him to stop, he wasn’t usually insistent to the point of unnecessary danger.

“I don’t know if they’ve taken kids before or not, but this is the first time we have come across them doing so. My cousins are around that woman’s kid’s age and I couldn’t imagine something like this happening to them. I’m getting that boy home.” Lu Ten said.

Iroh’s steps faltered for a second. Mako nearly ran into him. Iroh’s face had paled and his eyes were wide but he didn’t say anything, just picked his pace back up.

Mako didn’t bother asking, Iroh would share, whatever that was about, when he felt like it.

They trekked on towards the costal colonies for another two days, Lu Ten pushing them to go faster and walk longer. The transport boat was sitting at the dock, along with the tiniest war boat Mako had ever seen, but the prisoners were nowhere in sight. Lu Ten seemed slightly panicked over that, until Iroh pointed out that the caravans usually moved slow, due to carrying large groups of people, and had most likely fallen behind their pace.

When Lu Ten suggested trying to back track the caravan, Mako had enough and forced Lu Ten into a halt. Trying to stop a 6’5 man shouldn’t have been easy, even for Mako but Lu Ten stopped immediately when Mako stepped in front of him.

“Nap, first,” Mako said, tugging on Lu Ten’s arm, “so, death doesn’t come later. We can ambush them when they get to the dock, but if we try to back track them, they could potentially slip past us. It may be more dangerous to attack this close to the boat but it’s our only shot.”

They didn’t bother with the inn, and just set up a camp outside of the town, fairly well hidden from anyone. They would be able to get in and out quicker that way.

Mako woke up from his nap to Lu Ten shaking him. It was with a sinking feeling that he realized Lu Ten hadn’t slept like he and Iroh had.

He couldn’t even complain about it, because had Lu Ten been asleep too, they would have missed them.

The caravan rolled right past their hiding spot. There were four separate carts, less than usual but also a larger number of guards than normal. Either they knew the Sons of Agni were coming or the prisoners they were sent to rescue had caused some trouble.

This mission was becoming harder and harder by the second.

They hadn’t planned on the caravan coming in this side of the port town, it never had before, and had planned for this to be their escape route from the port. Now, they would have to attack the carts in full view of the port and the town without an escape route in mind.

Mako saw Lu Ten nod at him out of the corner of his eye and didn’t hesitate to launch into action.

Mako launched the ground up under the feet of the lead rhino, catapulting both it, and its rider, towards the town. There were screams as the rhino got to its feet and took off down the main street of town. Things like that were exactly why they didn’t like fighting this close to civilian locations.

Not only did it put civilians in danger but it drew attention to the situation. Mako could already see the crew of the world’s tiniest warship moving to assist.

The soldiers were looking around them for their attackers but couldn’t see them. At least not until Iroh was already in their face, his bouncing and flipping form kept the soldiers distracted, as they tried to unsuccessfully stop the acrobatic waterbender.

Mako, though he hated having to do it, sunk the cart rhinos’ feet into the ground. The animals usually freaked out when he did that but it was either freak the animals out or get stomped on. Mako stayed close to Lu Ten’s back, as Lu Ten tried to pick the locks on the metal cart.

Mako couldn’t wait till metalbending was discovered. He hadn’t yet to figure out how to do it himself.

A shot of flames went flying past Mako’s face. It was hot. Mako had never felt fire that hot before in his life. Whoever shot at him, had a very wild inner flame.

Mako looked up and froze. He was a preteen, he had a rather odd, ponytail look going for him, and a gauze covered his left eye, but he was unmistakably Fire Lord Zuko. Prepubescent Fire Lord Zuko.

Mako shouldn’t have stopped. Zuko took that opportunity to launch another line of fire at him.

Lu Ten moved too slowly, too tired to react quick enough to stop it, and Mako didn’t dodge. This time it hit, burning through his shirt and searing the skin of his shoulder. Mako thinks he may have screamed.

It was hot. It was wild. It was uncontrolled. It burned, everything it could.

Lu Ten had him cradled in his arms, having put out the fire, and was trying to fight off his cousin’s attacks. Mako wondered for a moment, in his pained daze, if Lu Ten even knew who he was fighting.

The small standoff between cousins ended when Zuko’s attention was called away.

“Prince Zuko!” A voice shouted, absolutely oblivious to the battle raging on, “Come look at this tea set!”

Before Zuko could respond to such an odd comment, or return to attacking his cousin, a huge wall of water, turned ice, surged up between the two groups. Iroh wasted no time helping Mako to his feet. As Zuko’s wild and untamed fire burned through the ice, the three of them ran.

There wasn’t any more they could do, with Mako down and Lu Ten too tired to function properly, they had to give up.

They didn’t go far, before they plopped Mako on the ground. Mako’s right arm flared up with pain as stress tears rolled down his face.

Iroh hit the dirt next to him and was healing him before Mako could even blink. Mako knew that, depending on the severity of the burn, a waterbender could make a burn disappear entirely. Mako also knew that this burn wasn’t going to go away. It would scar, badly.

Mako’s breaths were coming out shaky as the wound slowly healed under Iroh’s hand. Iroh had mastered the art of healing at this point. He had no other choice, what with how much they or others around them ended up injured.

“How’s it looking, Healer Ro?” Mako asked, his voice choked up.

“Well,” Iroh said, slowly, “You won’t be hiding it, not even behind the mask, not without a scarf or something. It goes up your neck to your ear. It’s also covers halfway down your arm and part of your upper chest. I’m sorry Mako, this was, this was too extensive of a burn. If Lu Ten hadn’t put it out when he did, it would have charred your skin.”

“It shouldn’t have hit him at all,” Lu Ten said, harshly. He was pacing around Iroh and Mako as if to stop anything from getting to them. “I should have paid more attention. I should have moved quicker. I knew there was a firebender behind us and I ignored it. I wasn’t thinking.”

Mako hadn’t realized that was what was bothering Lu Ten. He had thought Lu Ten was worked up over seeing his cousin and father, but Lu Ten apparently, either didn’t recognize or didn’t notice who they were. Granted, Lu Ten’s attention had been on Mako, up until Iroh slammed the ice wall up.

“Hey,” Mako said, reaching out to try and grab Lu Ten’s arm as he walked past. Lu Ten dodged it and kept pacing. Mako’s hand dropped to his lap. “Lu, I was distracted and you were tired. It couldn’t be helped.”

“No,” Lu Ten shouted, finally stopping his pacing and turning towards Mako. “It could be helped! It’s my fault, I was tired! You told me to sleep and I didn’t and you could have died!”

“You could have died,” Lu Ten repeated softer, his voice breaking on the last word.

Mako thought that was slightly over dramatic but Lu Ten seemed really cut up over it, so he didn’t comment. Instead he pulled himself to his feet and pulled the taller man down into a hug. He made sure to pull him down onto his good shoulder but it was still slightly painful. Mako couldn’t bring himself to care though, as Lu Ten burrowed down into his neck.

He felt something wet roll down his neck and resigned himself to his fate of living with criers for the rest of his life. He squeezed Lu Ten around the middle in the hopes of making him calm down, he wasn’t sure if it would work for Lu Ten, he just knew it always made Bolin feel better.

When they pulled apart, Mako turned to Iroh, meaning to ask him a question, but was stalled by the odd look on his face. He had his head tilted, like he did when he was curious, but he also had a small smile on his face.

Mako did what he usually did when Iroh was making weird faces, he ignored it and moved on. 

“So, is my shoulder going to be out of commission or what? It hurts right now but is that just soreness or?” Mako asked.

“Soreness,” Iroh said, “Technically that’s new skin, it’s not used to being there yet.”

“Right,” Mako said, “Gross. Are we leaving or staying the night?”

“Might as well stay the night, they don’t usually look for us after the fact so we should be fine,” Lu Ten said, pulling off his mask. “I’ll go get our stuff, hopefully, they haven’t found it. I wasn’t expecting to have to fight them that close.”

As Lu Ten took off through the woods, slowly, so as not to make noise, Mako saw a perfect opportunity to talk to Iroh, without his mixed-up feelings for Lu Ten interfering. He, at the least, knew what he wanted from Iroh now.

He just wasn’t sure how to breach the subject. Luckily, he didn’t have to.

“Mako, I can hear the gears in your head turning,” Iroh said. “Whatever you want to say, just say it.”

“I miss my brother,” Mako said. While it was the truth, it wasn’t what Mako intended to say, and now Iroh was staring at him in confusion. Mako plopped down next to Iroh.

“When we were growing up, it was just the two of us against the world,” Mako said, trying to explain the mess in his head. “Our parents died when we were young and I haven’t really been open to touch since, but my brother, he was always the exception. He could cuddle, and hug and hang off of me, all he wanted and I never hesitated to give him those comforts because when I was scared or hurt, curling up around my brother and knowing he was safe and breathing made me feel better. It’s an odd type of intimacy, I know but, that hug, I just gave Lu Ten, that was the first hug I’ve had in over a year. For someone used to a brother who had no issue crawling into my bed, it’s hard to suddenly be so distant from everyone around me.”

“I’ve been watching you and Lu Ten and while the teasing touches aren’t something I want, I figured maybe, if you’d be willing to, I don’t know,” Mako trailed off.

“That unspoken feeling of having someone’s affection you can always count on?” Iroh asked.

“Yeah,” Mako said, softly.

“I miss my sister, too,” Iroh said. His voice was slightly wistful. “She’s two years younger than me, so about your age. She used to sneak out of her room and we’d have illegal slumber parties, as we called them, in my room. We were always close growing up, usually left on our own to do what we wished. All the freedom in the world and the two of us spent it together, hiding in the kitchen or playing with tapestries in the hallways. We grew apart when I joined the military but I get it. I’m fine with it.”

Mako didn’t know how to bridge the touch gap. He had permission, but he still wasn’t sure what to do. Iroh did it for him. He slowly leaned his head over till it rested on Mako’s good shoulder, giving Mako time to pull back if he wanted. Mako instinctively pulled him closer, like he would his brother, and Iroh settled in at his side.

Mako was tense at first, it was a new touch, even if it wasn’t an unwelcome one, but he eventually settled with Iroh’s breaths puffing out every now and then across his collarbone.

An idea occurred to Mako, he hesitated briefly over mentioning it but eventually decided the worse thing Iroh could say would be no. “So, about intimacy, I don’t want anything too serious, but I miss making-out with people, it was my favorite thing to do in relationships. Would you be willing to do that too?” Mako asked.

Iroh squirmed, under Mako’s arm and Mako worried for a moment that he had offended the other man.

“No,” Iroh said. His tone left little room for argument, and though Mako felt slightly hurt, he accepted it. He was still curious though.

“Can I ask why?” Mako asked. “You don’t have to answer, I’m just being nosy.”

Iroh pursed his lips. “I don’t like it,” Iroh explained, “at least not make-out style kissing. On the cheek, the forehead, even pecks on the lips are fine but I haven’t made-out with someone since I was fifteen and I won’t do it now. It makes me uncomfortable. It always has. I don’t really know why, though if I had to guess, the intimacy of the act unnerves me. I know that sounds weird because sex is supposedly intimate, but to me sex is more about fun than intimacy, making-out is just,” Iroh waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve always been against it but after one too many partners have used it to try and convert me towards romance, it turns my stomach. If you still want just simple kisses, fine, but if you push it too far, I’m kneeing you in the dick.”

“Fair enough,” Mako said, pulling Iroh even closer to him. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

Iroh’s shoulders, which had apparently tensed up, relaxed under Mako’s arm.

“Thanks,” Iroh said. “It means a lot that you and Lu Ten have been so understanding and willing to listen to me. Most of my past, relationships, so to speak, just wrote things like that off as odd habits. They never really bothered to understand, though.”

“Well,” Mako said, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the touchy-feely topic, “those people were assholes, Lu Ten and I aren’t.”

Iroh snorted. “Sure, you’re not,” Iroh said.

Mako faked offense, as Lu Ten popped back up around the corner, and pausing to look at them cuddled together oddly, a strained confusion on his face.

“So,” Lu Ten said. “The ship is still in port and doesn’t seem to be leaving, which is odd because usually it takes off immediately.”

Iroh kept his head tucked into Mako’s neck, as he said, “Someone needs to figure out why, I’m not going to say, go figure out why, Ro, but Ro, go figure out why.”

Mako laughed and Lu Ten looked put out, plopping down on the ground across from them.

Iroh hooked his foot around Lu Ten’s and Lu Ten smiled. Mako was starting to suspect Lu Ten might just be crushing on Iroh, at least he hoped it was only a crush. The idea didn’t sit well with Mako, but it also wasn’t uncomfortable. Lu Ten was, without doubt, the most confusing thing to ever happen to Mako.

“You don’t have to,” Lu Ten said, “It’s a long shot and we’ve never taken down a ship before. I just figured your old man society might know something.”

“How do you even know there’s an old man here?” Iroh asked.

“There’s usually one where we need one,” Lu Ten said, with a shrug. “Besides, you’re here so it’s possible there might be another old man around.”

The smirk on Lu Ten’s face didn’t last long as Iroh launched himself across at Lu Ten, pinning the younger man to the ground. Iroh proceeded to sit on Lu Ten, in an effort to keep him down but Lu Ten just stood up anyway, causing Iroh to hang off him in an undignified manner.

Mako smiled as he watched the two continue battling it out like two baby fire ferrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild Turtleduck appears. Iroh uses waterwall. Its very effective!
> 
> IMPORTANT: I'm not updating this Wednesday because I have to work on Wednesday due to having memorial day off, but I will be updating tomorrow, so there's that (just for those who read the footnotes and not the warnings for whatever reason).
> 
> Anyway, the PoV pattern has changed again, with it now going Mako, Iroh, Lu Ten.
> 
> Lu Ten's arc, for this chapter and the next two will be dealing with his family, regardless of who's PoV it's in.
> 
> In fact, in some way, all of their mini arcs in these last nine chapter will deal with family in some sort of way.
> 
> I was having issues keeping up with ages and the timeline so I wrote it out for myself and figured I could share it (spoiler free).
> 
> A mini Timeline of Book 1 for anyone interested:  
> 95AG  
> March – Lu Ten’s 21st Birthday/Outer Wall comes down (end of March)  
> June – Iroh’s 26th Birthday (in 175AG)  
> August – Lu Ten’s assassination attempt – Start of story (end of August) (Chapters 3-9)  
> September – Travel to colonies/helping Hi Ka (Chapter 10-12)  
> October – Tell Lu Ten the truth about time travel (Chapter 13)  
> November – Mako’s 24th Birthday  
> 96AG  
> February – Rough Rhinos (Chapter 14)  
> March – Lu Ten’s 22nd birthday  
> June – June/Iroh’s 27th birthday (Chapter 15)  
> August - Anniversary of Lu Ten's assassination attempt  
> November – Mako’s 25th birthday  
> 97AG  
> January – Zuko Banished  
> March – Lu Ten’s 23rd birthday  
> April – (Chapters 16-18)  
> June – Iroh’s 28th birthday  
> November – Mako’s 26th birthday  
> 98AG  
> March – Lu Ten’s 24th birthday  
> April – (Chapters 18-21)  
> June – Iroh’s 29th birthday  
> November – Mako’s 27th birthday  
> 99AG  
> March – Lu Ten’s 25th birthday  
> June – Iroh’s 30th birthday  
> November – (Chapters 22-24)/Mako’s 28th birthday


	17. Remembering Tomorrow - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh questions the local old man and has a bonding moment with Lu Ten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: discussion of child abuse (Zuko), discussion of dysfunctional families, a lot of dialogue

It was evening and the ship was still docked in port. Lu Ten wouldn’t stop going to check on it, so finally Iroh gave up and went to investigate. He walked into the town by himself. A cool, evening sea breeze was blowing across Iroh’s face, energizing him.

He had a slight bounce to his steps, as he made his way to the tea shop, on the far side of town. It was the only such shop in the port town, so Iroh was fairly confident he’d find his targeted old guy there. Iroh thought it hilarious that Lu Ten had accidently called his own father old, in his attempt to insult Iroh.

Sure enough, Iroh’s great-granduncle sat at a table in the corner of the room, a cup of jasmine tea steaming in his hand as he played a, hopefully, random stranger at Pai Sho. Iroh was beginning to hate the board game, as much as he hated tea, due to the White Lotus. Seeing a White Lotus member, playing Pai Sho, with a cup of tea, was almost enough to give him a rash.

Iroh’s thirteen-year-old grandfather was pouting in the corner. If Iroh had to guess he was mad that his targets had gotten away from him, due to his Uncle’s interference and then being forced to sit in this tea shop while said uncle played a board game.

Iroh could only count himself lucky that Lu Ten didn’t seem to have noticed exactly who he was fighting or who had distracted his opponent. For once Lu Ten’s attention being fully on Mako was a good thing.

The man playing Great-Granduncle Iroh, was shuffling away from the board. From his downtrodden expression, Iroh assumed he lost.

Iroh watched his grandfather get up, no doubt hoping to pull his uncle away before he could get engrossed in another game. Too bad for him, that Iroh beat him to the table. Iroh could hear his grandfather growl as he sat back down, and smiled to himself.

Across the table his great-granduncle was smiling too.

“The impatience of youth,” Uncle Iroh said, “I do wonder if he will ever learn, to slow down.”

“I’m twenty-seven, and I’m just as impatient as I was at thirteen,” Iroh replied. “It comes with practice not with age. I don’t practice.”

Iroh shot a mischievous grin across the table. His boyish humor seemed to amuse his great-granduncle.

“Without patience,” Uncle Iroh said, “how do you plan to win?”

“Ah, I plan to wing it,” Iroh replied, placing down his lotus tile.

“I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways,” Uncle Iroh said, cupping his hands towards his opponent, “Particularly ones as young as you.”

“It was the grey hairs,” Iroh threw out, sardonically, “It threw them off, by the time they realized I was a baby, it was too late.”

Iroh’s great-granduncle just raised his eyebrow.

Iroh sighed and cupped his hands back, before saying, “Those who do can always find a friend.”

Uncle Iroh hummed to himself before placing a tile on the board. Iroh stubbornly stared across at him, not moving.

“Is something wrong?” Uncle Iroh finally asked, after waiting several minutes for Iroh to make a move.

“You didn’t say let us play,” Iroh replied. If the old men were going to be sticklers for the rules, then Iroh would be too.

His great-granduncle laughed a full-belly laugh. “I supposed I did not,” he said with a smile, “Let us play, then.”

Iroh finally placed his tile down and they went back and forth, until the White Lotus pattern formed on the board.

“I will admit, my young friend,” Uncle Iroh said, “I did not believe you knew exactly what you were doing when you placed that tile down. Tell me, how did one as young as you get dragged into such an old style of game play?”

“It’s a family thing,” Iroh said, vaguely. A memory surfaced from the back of his mind, of his alter-ego Rozin’s grandfather teaching him Pai Sho and a set of very important words. Iroh wondered if the spirits always had that planned out, or if he had spoken the new memory into the universe.

“Oh?” Uncle Iroh said, “I will admit, I, myself, am rather new to this, having only taken up such a feat in the past year.”

“Like I said, it takes practice, not age,” Iroh said, a small smirk stretching over his face.

His great-granduncle laughed again. “You are quite wise for your age,” he said. “What is your name young man, and what may I help you with?”

Iroh hesitated slightly. It had become impossible for Iroh to keep his face separated from his masked identity, when it came to the White Lotus. While, his great-granduncle might not know his face now, he would be able to connect the name Rozin with the Blue Dragon of the Sons of Agni.

Uncle Iroh’s face dropped slightly. “I understand your hesitance young man, and I hope for a day when the Fire Nation doesn’t instill so much hesitation and fear into the hearts of others, you do not need to tell me your name, I will still be glad to help,” he said. He slumped his shoulders and drew his body in slightly to make himself appear smaller. It was something Iroh was familiar with from his own grandfather, trying to appear pitiful after doing something to irritate Grandmother Mai or Iroh’s own mother Izumi.

He hated that it worked. “Rozin,” Iroh said, “My name’s Rozin. Tell me, why are the ships still in port? I figured they would have left by now, particularly with your neph-younger companion so impatient to leave.”

Iroh had nearly said nephew, but technically speaking, Iroh shouldn’t have known that. It would be highly unlikely for someone in the colonies to know what the Fire Lord’s second son’s children looked like, and up until a year or so ago, that’s what Zuko was.

“Ah, you have yourself to thank for that. There is no coal for the boats to run on. The delivery that was supposed to be here today, was stalled two days ago. It seemed to have been caught in a booby-trap, that was set up along its typical route. Some are saying the Sons of Agni were responsible,” Uncle Iroh said, looking really hard at Iroh. “Considering they just attacked a prisoner caravan this morning, I’d say that the rumors are right.”

Iroh thought back, before they ran into the town that requested this mission, they had been setting a lot of those types of traps, on Fire Nation supply routes. They were safe places to booby-trap, as only the Fire Nation bothered to go through them, the Earth Kingdom being smart enough to steer clear. Three days north of here was a mining colony, and sure enough Iroh could recall putting a trap, on a Fire Nation supply route from the town. He didn’t realize it led here though. He was kind of proud of them, for this, as unintentional as it was.

Iroh hummed to himself. “Sounds like they planned it,” he said, looking across the table at his great-granduncle.

“I’m sure that they didn’t,” Uncle Iroh replied, a slight smile on his lips.

“Yeah,” Iroh said, “Fair enough. Do you know how long they will be stalled for?”

“I was told we would have coal for our ship by tomorrow evening,” Uncle Iroh said, “Of course by then, no self-respecting sailor would sail these waters, not in the dark. There are far too many rocks that could potentially breach the hull and no way to see them. My nephew will no doubt have us leaving at that time regardless but the other ships should remain in port till morning.”

Uncle Iroh reached out and placed his hand on Iroh’s shoulder. “You have time, do not worry,” he said.

Iroh let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. They would have a full day to plan and the cover of night to pull it off.

“You know,” Uncle Iroh said, clearing off the Pai Sho board. “My nephew got in a pretty impressive shot at one of the Sons of Agni.”

“Did he?” Iroh asked, though he already knew exactly who Zuko had hit.

“Oh, yes,” Uncle Iroh said. “I believe it was the one they call the Green Dragon. An earthbender, I’ve heard. I do wonder if he is okay.”

Iroh rolled his eyes. Mako was perfectly fine, though no doubt confused, back at camp being coddled and fawned over by Lu Ten, but Iroh wasn’t about to tell Lu Ten’s father that. Not, of course, that Great-Granduncle Iroh would know that the Red Dragon and his son were the same person.

Iroh decided he was going to have some fun with this. 

“Yeah, my friend recently got burned really badly. A bender with poor control over his fire,” Iroh stared his great-granduncle down, hoping he understood just what Iroh was referring to, “got to him. Burned his right shoulder pretty badly, scarred all the way up to his ear and down his arm and chest. Guess it matches the other scar he’s got on his left arm though. He ended up fully recovered, thanks to me. His not-boyfriend on the other hand, stood there completely useless as he panicked. He’s probably still running around trying to make his love comfortable. They can get kind of gross sometimes, even if the one doesn’t understand exactly what’s going on, so I ditch them to come play Pia Sho with old guys. Their words, not mine.”

Uncle Iroh seemed greatly amused, at the glimpse Iroh allowed him, into the inner workings of the Sons of Agni. If he knew just who the love-sick fool was, he might not find it as funny. Lu Ten and Mako really needed to get themselves straightened out, or well, maybe not straightened.

Iroh laughed at his own inner joke, causing his great-granduncle to look at him strangely.

“Yes, wild firebending is very dangerous,” Uncle Iroh said, ignoring Iroh’s awkward laughter. “My nephew has been struggling to re-tame his fire since an,” he paused here, his voice coming out darker as he said, “accident, left him scarred. His fire has become a lot more destructive as a result, he doesn’t normally burn people like he did with the Green Dragon.”

Iroh’s heart dropped. This was one of the things Iroh dearly wished he could have saved his grandfather from, but Agni told him not to, and Iroh could admit to himself, that it was a strong part of his grandfather’s identity, as horrid as it was. “I’m sorry to hear that, I hope he gets better,” Iroh said, hoping his great-granduncle understood that Mako, Iroh and Lu Ten didn’t hold anything against the man’s nephew.

“Well,” the older man said, standing up. “It was nice playing with you and I am glad to hear your friend is recovering well, even if his not-boyfriend may kill him with smothering, but I have a nephew who has been impatiently waiting for me to retire for the night, and old men need their rest.”

Iroh stood and bowed slightly. Not the bow usually given to royalty, but one given to an elder out of respect. “It was a pleasure to meet you and thank you for your advice. I hope our paths cross again under better terms,” Iroh said, surprised to find that he really was looking forward to meeting the man again.

Uncle Iroh nodded and said, “It was a pleasure to meet you as well, young Rozin, do be sure to tell your friends that young men need their rest as well.” Iroh thought it slightly bittersweet that, in a way, his great-granduncle had told his son, Lu Ten, to get some rest, even if he didn’t realize it.

With that, his great-granduncle walked off towards Iroh’s grandfather. The thirteen-year-old, still with a bandage across his face, couldn’t have been happier to leave the tea shop and practically dragged his Uncle behind him as he headed towards their ship.

Iroh wasted little time getting up, least someone try to strike up another game of Pai Sho with him, and made his way back to their camp.

Iroh relayed what he had learned from his great-granduncle, but at that point, night had taken over and Lu Ten, who hadn’t slept in over a day, was nodding off too much to be of use brainstorming. They would plan in the morning, after a goodnight’s sleep and a hearty breakfast.

It was before such a breakfast, and with Mako still dead to the world asleep, that Iroh sat brushing Lu Ten’s hair. It had grown past his shoulder blades and, at this length, remined Iroh greatly of putting up his sister’s hair when they were kids. The beard Lu Ten was now sporting, on the other hand, didn’t remind Iroh of his sister, though it did make Iroh slightly jealous. 

Lu Ten, was extremely quiet that morning, which was odd as Lu Ten usually never shut up while Iroh was fixing his hair.

“Did you know,” Iroh said, in an attempt to fill the silence, “that it’s a strong cultural aspect of the Water Tribes to do someone else’s hair?”

“I did not,” Lu Ten replied. “Is hair as important to the Water Tribes as it is to the Fire Nation?”

“Eh,” Iroh replied. “In its own way, in the Fire Nation your hair is more a sign of your status or your honor, but in the Water Tribes it holds no such meaning. No, hair to the Water Tribes is important because it is just as much as part of your identity as anything else. Allowing someone else to do your hair is a sign of utmost trust in the Water Tribes. It means you trust that person with a part of yourself, your identity. My Aunt Kya used to always do my hair when my father took me to the Southern Water Tribe to visit his family.”

Lu Ten didn’t reply for a while, Iroh could feel the gears turning in Lu Ten’s head, so he continued brushing his hair, rather than just putting it up.

“I assume,” Lu Ten said, “that Kya is your real aunt and not something made up by the spirits?”

“Yes,” Iroh said. He paused as he contemplated telling Lu Ten about his family. He decided it wouldn’t make much difference to do so. “My father was the son of Avatar Aang. He was born a non-bender, and he had two younger siblings. His younger sister Kya was a waterbender, she and I were extremely close when I was a child, not so much as I got older. Though that distance was more to do with an inability to see each other than a lack of interest in hanging out. His younger brother Tenzin was an airbender, the first one born in a century.”

Lu Ten flinched and Iroh realized that was probably a touchy subject to bring up right now.

“Sorry,” Iroh said. “Anyway, I didn’t know him that well because he and my dad didn’t really get along, like at all. My dad kind of hated his brother for a really long time, though the two are rather close now, I think.”

“I can’t even imagine being the only non-bender child of an avatar,” Lu Ten said. “I’d probably resent my siblings too.”

Iroh snorted. “Yeah, dad had a lot of repressed issues about that. Those were minefields better left alone, in our family,” Iroh said.

“Minefield?” Lu Ten asked. Turning towards Iroh, his hair slipping from Iroh’s hand in the process.

“Trust me,” Iroh said, staring out into space. He could still picture the first time he ever saw one. The taste of clay, churned up by explosives was practically fresh on his lips whenever he though too hard about it. “You don’t want to know.”

“Anyway,” Iroh said, trying to shake the sensation from his body. “Dad obviously married Zuko’s daughter Izumi. She had two kids, myself-”.

Iroh was interrupted by Lu Ten smugly saying, “Crown Prince Iroh the Second.”

Iroh rolled his eyes as he grabbed Lu Ten’s hair. He decided to put it in a dragon tail braid, a newer hairstyle, common from Iroh’s time, just to see Lu Ten’s reaction to it. 

“Yeah,” Iroh said, “and Ursa, also the second, because no one ever said creativity was my mother’s strong suit. In fact, it’s my fathers, oh his name’s Bumi by the way. He was named after the King of Omashu, apparently Aang and him were friends or something.”

“Your family is odd,” Lu Ten said, a small smile spreading across his face. “I suppose I’m one to talk, though. My family is trying to kill each other.”

“Hey, technically, that’s my family too,” Iroh said, yanking slightly on Lu Ten’s hair. “But if you really want to talk about odd family members, then you’ll love Meelo. Kid is the definition of odd. He’s my cousin, Uncle Tenzin’s son. He invented a new form of airbending.”

“Did he?” Lu Ten asked with interest.

“Oh yes,” Iroh said, he couldn’t keep the humor out of his voice. “The oh so wonderful art of fartbending.”

Lu Ten didn’t seem to know what to do with that information. Iroh worried for a moment that he broke Lu Ten, until Lu Ten let out a peel of laughter and fell back into Iroh’s lap.

“Fartbending?” Lu Ten asked, through his giggles.

“Yes,” Iroh replied. “He’s quite mad that he hasn’t been given his mastery tattoos for it, according to his sister Jinora. Jinora, is Tenzin’s eldest and quite possibly my best friend from before I came here. Tenzin has two other kids, Ikki, who is younger than Jinora but older than Meelo, and Rohan, who’s the youngest. I’ve never actually met Rohan.”

At some point during Iroh’s explanation, Lu Ten’s giggling had calmed down. Iroh tried to salvage the braid Lu Ten had ruined during his laughing fit, then decided he was better off starting over.

“What about your mother’s side?” Lu Ten asked, slightly subdued. “Or well, I supposed our shared side.”

“I mean,” Iroh said, “You know most of it but Zuko marries a woman named Mai. She’s –”

Lu Ten cut Iroh off again. “Azula’s friend. Along with Ty Lee, yes, I know them, sort of,” Lu Ten said.

“Yeah,” Iroh said, “They got married a bit late in life because they apparently broke up and didn’t get back together till their mid-twenties, or something. They only had the one kid, my mother. I spent a lot of time growing up with my sister, and believe it or not, my great aunt Azula. She was, to everyone’s surprise, the one who trained me in firebending. Everyone else was too busy to really spend much time with us, though my grandparents often cut business short to play with us anyway, particularly grandfather, er, Zuko.”

“If he’s anything like his mother, Zuko would make a good parent,” Lu Ten said, wistfully.

Iroh just stared down at Lu Ten’s head for a moment before deciding that wasn’t a bubble, he was willing to burst. Iroh’s great-grandmother’s drama was a bit too much for a morning conversation.

Iroh tied off Lu Ten’s braid. He handed him a mirror, procured at some point during their trip, as they had quickly gotten irritated with Iroh’s ice mirrors.

Iroh nearly laughed at the confused look on Lu Ten’s face. Lu Ten didn’t seem to know what to do with the hairstyle, which consisted of a loose fishtail braid, with a singled section of hair weaving in and out of the middle, creating a spine like effect along the braid.

After looking at it from several angles, Lu Ten seemed to deem it worthy and handed the mirror back.

“Grandfather was the best,” Iroh said, as he placed the mirror and comb to the side. 

“He,” Iroh stumbled over the words. This was the first time he had really spoken about what he had found out right before he got dragged into the spirit world. “He died, apparently the day before I came here. He was kind of, my inspiration growing up. I spent most of my childhood copying his mannerisms. He always seemed so indestructible that I just didn’t expect it, you know?”

Lu Ten pulled Iroh into a hug. “I know,” Lu Ten said softly, “I know.”

Iroh finally managed to pull himself together, only for Lu Ten to send him spiraling again.

“Iroh,” Lu Ten said, “Not to prod an open wound but what happened to my cousin’s face?”

Iroh was surprised. He had assumed Lu Ten hadn’t noticed who he was fighting, he wondered for a moment if Lu Ten had also noticed his father.

“Um,” Iroh said, awkwardly.

Something about the way he said that must have given away the answer because Lu Ten’s eyes flashed with anger.

“I’m going to kill him,” Lu Ten growled. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to kill Ozai.”

It said a lot, that in the past year Lu Ten had stopped calling the man uncle, Iroh had no doubt that Lu Ten was distancing himself from the man. He was sure that Lu Ten would kill Ozai if given the chance. Iroh wasn’t sure how he felt at Lu Ten, distancing himself from his uncle’s humanity. On one hand, it would make it easier to defeat Ozai, on the other, it separated Ozai’s actions from humanity. Lu Ten needed to remember it was humans doing these atrocities, and that they could easily do them again.

Iroh rubbed Lu Ten’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. “If it makes you feel better, my grandfather, is,” Iroh paused, realizing he was very much about to lie, “no never mind, he’s not a well-adjusted person, but-”

Iroh trialed off, before clarity struck. “This was his Ba Sing Se, Lu,” Iroh said, “Without it, he might not have woken up to the truth.”

Lu Ten hummed. It was an irritated sound, one he often made when Iroh or Mako started talking about a shared history, he wasn’t a part of. He also occasionally made it, in instances like this, where he was displeased with what someone told him, but unable to verbalize why.

Iroh decided to leave him be and let him figure himself out. In the meantime, he finally started cooking breakfast.

Mako was still dead asleep. Iroh left him to it for now, he’d wake him up before breakfast went cold.

It was as Iroh was plating the food, that Lu Ten finally moved.

He sat next to Iroh while they ate, but waited till they were both finished to speak.

“How do you do something like that to your own kid?” Lu Ten asked, his voice crackling. “How did Ursa let that happen? How did my father let that happen?”

“Sadly,” Iroh said, “I can’t say anything for your father, he was there and did nothing but my great-grandmother wasn’t.”

“Please no,” Lu Ten said, his eyes wide with horror.

It took Iroh a moment to realize what Lu Ten meant. “Oh no,” Iroh said, grabbing Lu Ten’s shoulder. “She had to leave or she would be in danger, she couldn’t take her children with her, she’s still alive, just gone.”

Iroh wasn’t stupid enough to tell Lu Ten the truth of why Ursa had to run, he could come to his own conclusions. Lu Ten still loved, at the very least, the idea of his grandfather, telling him the closest thing he had to a mother killed said grandfather, wasn’t a topic Iroh was willing to bring up, at least not right now.

“I’m done talking about our family,” Lu Ten said. “It’s not a nice topic. Let’s plan out what we are doing tonight.”

“Okay,” Iroh said. He wasn’t going to argue against a topic change. He was going to wake Mako up first though.

Iroh had quickly learned that the easiest way to wake Mako up was to drag him across the ground until he put up a fight.

“Why are you like this?” Mako said, sitting up straight and smacking Iroh on the hand that was around his ankle.

“It’s breakfast time,” Iroh said. “Yummy food and brainstorming await you.”

Mako groaned, but nonetheless got up to sit around the fire.

Iroh hesitated, before bringing up the plan that had been developing in the back of his mind.

“So,” Iroh said. “I know this might sound a bit crazy but I have an idea.”

“Those words never bode well for us,” Lu Ten groaned.

“I don’t know,” Mako said, now wide awake as he slurped down the broth left in his bowl. “Crazy seems to work out well for us, even if it never actually happens like we think it should.”

“Right,” Iroh said, ignoring both of them, “so, I was thinking, the local old guy said that these waters are difficult to navigate due to the sharp, jagged rocks in the water potentially breaching the hull. I figured, what if we intentionally breach the hull with one such rock? That would allow us into the ship without having to go up the dock where we would be extremely visible.”

“Um,” Lu Ten said, “I’m not the best sailor in the world but won’t that sink the ship?”

“Nope,” Iroh said, “because I can freeze the water over once we are inside. It should allow the boat to remain afloat.”

“Okay,” Mako said, “maybe I’m half asleep still but, how exactly are we getting out to the ship to sneak into the hull, if not by way of the docks?”

“Boat,” Iroh answered. Lu Ten spoke before Iroh could further explain.

“We don’t have a boat,” Lu Ten said.

“It’s a port town and we have all day to get one,” Iroh said, slightly annoyed. “We don’t even need a big one or to own it.”

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, slowly, “You seem to have everything worked out but what about the warship in port? If you know my cousin as well as I do, then you know how stubborn he is about things. He’s not going to let this Sons of Agni thing rest. Not if he thinks that there’s a change we might come back.”

“When did Lu Ten figure out Zuko was here?” Mako asked, looking form Iroh to Lu Ten.

“Oh,” Lu Ten said, a slightly bitter tone to his voice, “so you both knew and weren’t going to tell me?”

“Anyway,” Iroh said, loudly to disrupt that argument. “We don’t need to worry about Zuko, he will leave port tonight. His stubbornness is focused on something else right now. He will leave port the second he has the fuel to do so. Trust me, I know my grandfather.”

“I think you’re underestimating him,” Lu Ten said, warning in his voice. Iroh was starting to get slightly mad that Lu Ten felt the need to keep poking at this. It wouldn’t be a problem, by the time they were to implement their plan, his grandfather would be gone from port. Iroh couldn’t figure out where Lu Ten was getting the idea that he would do otherwise, other than that Lu Ten didn’t have all the facts.

“Look,” Iroh said, “The resident old guy said he would leave and –”

Lu Ten cut him off. “I don’t care what the resident old guy said, Ro,” Lu Ten said. “I care what the contingency plan is for if you and this old guy are wrong.”

“We won’t be wrong,” Iroh insisted, “but if you think it’s so important you come up with one, but we won’t need it. I know my grandfather.”

‘It’s not that I think you don’t, or that I don’t trust you,” Lu Ten pleaded. “It’s just that the last time I saw my cousin was four years ago, and the last time you saw him was seventy-eight years in the future. I think my knowledge of him is a bit more recent than yours.”

Iroh clinched his jaw at that but Lu Ten quickly started talking again before Iroh could reply.

“I just want us prepared if something goes wrong,” Lu Ten said.

“It won’t go wrong,” Iroh insisted.

“You can’t guarantee that,” Lu Ten said. “I just don’t want to lose you to lack of planning like we almost lost Mako, yesterday!”

Iroh fell silent and looked down. He supposed, in that case, he was being slightly unreasonable. All the talk about his family from before breakfast had him rubbed the wrong way, and this conversation wasn’t helping. He took a deep breath before looking back up at Lu Ten and Mako.

Mako’s eyes were wide as he glanced back and forth between Iroh and Lu Ten. Iroh couldn’t really blame him, arguments between Lu Ten and Iroh were rare. Usually it was Iroh and Mako who argued the most.

“There is a possibility he may stay,” Iroh conceded. “If he’s down guarding the docks, we can sneak past him on the left. His eyesight is completely obscured by the bandage and even if it wasn’t, he can barely see out of it. His hearing is poor on that side too, he was declared deaf in that ear by his twenties. His crew does the bare minimum he orders them to do, so unless they see us themselves, they won’t be an issue.”

That seemed to satisfy Lu Ten who nodded. “Okay then,” Mako said, “let’s get this crazy show on the road.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing the last three chapters of this story (22-24) is killing me because Mako's acting a right fool, Iroh's not playing fair and Lu Ten's just letting things happen. Like honestly guys get it together.
> 
> Just a reminder, no update on Wednesday but on Sunday it will be back to my regularly scheduled BS.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	18. Charred Legacy - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys bust up the prison ship but an unexpected player throws Lu Ten for a loop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: War, Prison, violence, really there isn't much here other than general war stuff and nothing worse than you would see in the show.

Lu Ten still wasn’t sure if Iroh’s plan was the best, particularly due to its reliance on Zuko not being there, but it was the only plan they could think of on such short notice. Lu Ten could admit that, should his cousin not be at the docks, their plan would work perfectly, which was the only reason he was going along with it.

After breakfast, they went out searching for a boat, one small enough that it wouldn’t attract attention, large enough to hold three grown men, and cheap enough that they wouldn’t mind ditching it afterwards.

Surprisingly they found one, an old lifeboat from a Fire Nation warship. The pieces used to attach it to the ship were damaged, making it useless for its original purpose, but it would make a good rowboat. It was cheap, between the owner wanting to get rid of it and Iroh’s bartering games.

Now the three of them were out over the water, trying to determine vantage points, where the best place to hit the ship would be and if Mako could even earthbend through the water.

From what Lu Ten knew of ships like this, the best place to hit would be on the starboard quarter’s lower deck, as that was the side away from the docks. If Lu Ten remembered his schematics correctly, the quickest way into the hold area, was through a ladder drop down on that side, which would work out well.

As Mako, who it was determined could somewhat earthbend through the water, continued practicing, Lu Ten took in their surroundings.

He could see the rocks Iroh spoke of, protruding out of the water, and wondered for a moment just who would build a port town here. He supposed it worked as a line of defense but Iroh wasn’t wrong, anyone would be a fool to try and sail out of this port at night.

Zuko wasn’t a fool, a bit hardheaded, and extremely naive, though Lu Ten supposed he wasn’t much better at times, but not foolish. He would stay in port. Lu Ten really didn’t understand Iroh’s conviction that he wouldn’t. Iroh refused to explain more and after learning, vaguely, what injured his cousin, Lu Ten wasn’t amused by Iroh’s silence.

Lu Ten looked towards the docks and noticed his baby cousin marching across them, like a dragon protecting a horde. To anyone else, Zuko looked to be impatiently waiting for something, and in all honesty, he probably was, but he was also guarding something. Lu Ten could see it in the way his good eye bounced around the surrounding areas and how he kept glancing at the prison ship, as if to make sure it was still there.

Zuko wasn’t going anywhere, no matter what Iroh and his old man club seemed to think.

Lu Ten understood Iroh’s reaction to being told he didn’t know his grandfather. Lu Ten hadn’t reacted well when he found out his own grandfather wasn’t what he thought he was. What Iroh needed to understand, though, was that ninety-one-year-old Zuko wouldn’t have the same reactions and thoughts as thirteen-year-old Zuko. Iroh may know his grandfather but he didn’t know Lu Ten’s cousin, as odd as that may sound.

They didn’t have time for another mishap, not with this mission, and Zuko had already landed a hit on one of them once.

Lu Ten turned his attention to Mako, something he couldn’t seem to stop doing. During the fight, Lu Ten hadn’t noticed at first, but the extreme heat at his back had him turning around. Finding Mako, his arm in flames, had Lu Ten’s stomach dropping. He couldn’t handle something like that happening again. If his cousin got in another shot at Mako, or even Iroh, Lu Ten thought he might lose it.

He wasn’t entirely sure when these two men started meaning the world to him, but they did.

They spent the rest of the day out on the water, splashing around and attempting to fish, as much as they were practicing and spying. The locals thought nothing of three young men out on the water, messing around, though admittedly it was a bit too cold to be doing so.

As they ate dinner, the coal finally arrived at the docks. The sun was setting in the sky. The prison ship didn’t bother with stocking up on coal, they would probably do so in the morning, at least, if it was still above water it would.

Lu Ten wondered for a moment, as the small warship stocked up on coal, if Iroh might be right, and his cousin was going to leave.

They waited, well after night fall, before Lu Ten finally, gave up on his cousin leaving, around midnight. Iroh seemed surprised but they didn’t have time to wait for Zuko to decide to leave, particularly with the thirteen-year-old, still marching up and down the dock, occasionally wiping sleep from his good eye.

“Okay,” Iroh said, begrudgingly, “you were right. We need to get past him but it shouldn’t be too hard. Like I said, his left eye is damaged, and so it his left ear. If we move, when his left is towards the dock, he will completely miss us, which works out because that’s also when he marches back towards his own ship.”

“And what,” Lu Ten asked, “do we do about his crew that supposedly doesn’t listen? They already came to the soldier’s aide once, what’s to stop them from doing so again? We should have gone over this before now.”

Iroh winced. “Okay,” Iroh said. “I get it. I need to stop thinking I know best and listen to other people, I’m working on it, I just, really thought I was right this time.”

“Guys,” Mako said, “Can we do this later? Kind of have earthbenders to save.”

“Right,” Lu Ten said, at the same time Iroh said, “Sorry.”

They ended up winging it. The first half of the plan stayed the same, bust into the lower deck with a pillar of rock, have Iroh freeze off the entrance once they were through, and sneak their way down into the hold of the ship with Iroh knocking out anyone they came across.

Originally, Lu Ten was going to pick the locks on the prison cells. It was a skill both Iroh and Mako were surprised to learn Lu Ten knew how to do. It was the one skill Lu Ten had that Iroh didn’t. He was rather proud of that fact, even if Mako also knew how to pick locks.

They didn’t need to though, as one of the men Iroh knocked out, had the cell keys on his belt.

Lu Ten stayed on the lower level, with Mako, to open all the cell doors, while Iroh moved towards the upper deck to try and drop the gangplank. They explained the escape route as they went, making sure everyone understood just where they were going and to not wait up for them should they get pinned down.

This was where the plan started going slowly, but surely sideways. The gangplank, when lowered, would drop to the dock between the prisoner ship and Zuko’s. This would alert not only the crew on the prison ship but also Lu Ten’s cousin and his crew, which was why they hoped Zuko’s ship would be gone. The prisoners would have to go between the two ships and their crews, and it was a fair distance from solid ground. Some earthbenders would be fine being that far from their rock source, others, particularly the younger ones, wouldn’t be.

Lu Ten, Mako and Iroh would have to pick up a lot of the slack. 

As Lu Ten and Mako made their way to the upper deck, earthbenders following behind them, they noticed a lot of crew members knocked out. Iroh had apparently realized the same thing as Lu Ten and took his time, making sure he knocked out as many crew members as possible, even going out of his way to do so.

As they reached the upper deck, the gangplank dropped to the ground, and the earthbenders needed no guidance off the ship. Fire rained down from the watch tower. Lu Ten launched his own volley of flames back, the fire licking at the flags and distracting the guard.

The earthbenders had hit the dock at that point but found themselves stalled by Zuko’s crew. A rather large skirmish took place down there but Lu Ten didn’t have time to worry about it as the wildest flame he had ever encountered came shooting towards him and Mako.

Lu Ten could admit, that he panicked slightly at seeing those crazed flames headed towards Mako again. His reaction, of sliding in front of and covering Mako, with no real attempt to dispel the flames, was a dumb one. Had Iroh not been close by to extinguish them, Lu Ten and Mako would have matching scars.

Mako was looking at him oddly for his reaction. Lu Ten’s heart was beating hard but he had no real explanation, nor the time to give one.

Iroh pushed the two of them towards the gangplank, the crew that was left of the prison ship, finally joining the party behind them.

Zuko wasn’t letting up on his flames, the fires he started now eating away at the dock. Lu Ten worried for a moment that his cousin would be consumed by his inner flame if he didn’t get ahold of it soon. He was cut off from that thought as a huge billow of flames nearly engulfed the three men. Lu Ten was almost proud of his cousin’s raw power, as he divided the flames around them. It would have been an impressive display of firebending had it not been so wild.

The flames were still burning away at whatever was behind Lu Ten and his friends, he could feel the heat on his back and realized with dread that they were boxed in.

“We need a distraction,” Lu Ten said.

“Oh yeah,” Mako said, sarcastically, dropping the parts of the dock the Fire Nation soldiers where on, into a sink hole. The soldiers were fine, left floating in the water. “Great idea, where are we going to find one of those?”

“What about the ship?” Lu Ten asked. “Can’t we sink it? Iroh just has to melt the ice holding the hole closed, right?”

“Yeah,” Iroh said, breathlessly, as he launched a man out into the rocky bay. “But I kind of knocked out all those people and they can’t swim while asleep, or with numb arms or legs.”

Lu Ten cursed. They tried their hardest to not kill people, but in war, it wasn’t always a viable option. Iroh definitely had the highest kill count, Lu Ten not far behind him, surprisingly Mako had yet to kill anyone, though Lu Ten wasn’t sure about before they came to this time.

Lu Ten took stock of the situation. Half of the earthbenders had made it to shore, they were launching rocks out towards both the prison ship and Zuko’s ship. Lu Ten could see a stocky twelve-year-old among them and was happy to know, at least the kid made it off. The dock was barely standing, only the part Lu Ten and his friends were standing on and the part attached to the shore still holding up. Zuko was launching huge, uncontrolled fire balls in any and all directions. 

Lu Ten’s pretty sure he taught him, and his sister, not to do that when they were kids. Fire aimed at an unspecified target was fire left to consume anything, even what you didn’t want it too.

Lu Ten sighed. They wouldn’t be able to make it out of this without a huge distraction.

Lu Ten closed his eyes and nodded. Iroh, with regret splashed across his face, nodded back.

It was a horrible sucking sound as water gushed into the ship. The boat quickly started sinking. Lu Ten was expecting the sinking ship to draw the attention of the ship’s crew. He was surprised, though slightly proud, to see his baby cousin directing his own crew to assist, allowing the earthbenders to escape.

Lu Ten hoped for a second it would mean escape for him and his friend too, but sinking the ship seemed to have woken up another player Lu Ten didn’t even realize was there.

In hindsight, it was really stupid of Lu Ten to think his cousin was out here by himself, and in all honesty, it should have been obvious who would be the one with him.

Lu Ten could feel the static charge building in the air and was already moving to dodge it, reaching out to pull Iroh and Mako down with him, when the lightning, luckily, slammed into the sinking ship behind them.

Lu Ten’s breath stopped as he looked up to the bow of Zuko’s ship. He wasn’t tall, he had never been tall, a common joke between the two of them had been their height difference. He had certainly gained a few pounds, or maybe he had just lost his muscle tone, he had always been kind of stocky. His hair was fully grey now, rather than just the sprinkling from when Lu Ten had last saw him. Still, he was unmistakably, Lu Ten’s father.

He was also unmistakably, moving to shoot more lightning their way.

Lu Ten shook himself from the surprise and launched into action, shooting his own bolt of lightning just shy of his father, not wanting to hurt him but needing to stop him from frying them. 

He was expecting his father to dodge, after all he was the one who taught Lu Ten that when lightning was involved, the only option was to dodge. Instead, his father did something Lu Ten had never seen before, he let the lighting hit him. The electricity went in one arm and back out the other, towards the cliffside of the bay. His father stood completely fine, as a chunk of rock blasted away from the cliff wall.

Lu Ten’s brows launched up towards his forehead as his jaw went slack. He wasn’t entirely sure what just happened, but for the millionth time in his life, Lu Ten was left in awe of just how amazing a bender his father was.

The sound of rumbling earth startled him and he looked over in time to see Mako dragging a land bridge into existence from their location to the shore. It wasn’t the straight shot most earthbenders would have produced, but the curved path nonetheless did the trick.

Lu Ten was surprised that the only opposition they faced running towards the shore was his cousin. The ships' crews were apparently too focused on the sinking ship to stop them.

Lu Ten’s father on the other hand was watching them pensively from the ship’s bow, rather than launching another attack. Lu Ten accidently made eye contact with his father. His eyes shown with curiosity and surprise. 

Lu Ten had no clue what possessed him to do it, but as they hit the shore he waved. His father’s face crumpled in confusion but he slowly waved back.

He turned to see Zuko standing between them and the fleeing earthbender.

“You’re not getting away with your crimes this time,” Zuko said.

“Look pipsqueak,” Mako said, “we have things to do so, shoo.”

Lu Ten was surprised he said that. Mako usually seemed in awe of Fire Lord Zuko, as he continually called him. Maybe spending so much time with Lu Ten and Iroh changed his opinion on Fire Nation Royalty.

Flames launched towards Mako again, and this time, Lu Ten actually dispelled them. Iroh was apparently done with his prepubescent grandfather, which Lu Ten couldn’t really blame him, he was kind of done with his baby cousin too at this point, and launched a wave towards him, pinning him to the ground with ice.

With the crews busy, Zuko pinned, and Lu Ten’s father for some reason not bothering with them, the three took off to catch up with the earthbenders.

When they did, they quickly guided them back home. The small, budding Fire Nation colony, only currently housing Fire Nation troops, had no clue what was about to head their way. Apparently, the earthbenders had been taken in the night, unprepared to fight. Lu Ten was disheartened to learn it was a new strategy the Fire Nation was using, rather than outright right fighting the earthbenders.

He worried for a moment, if the Fire Nation’s new guerilla style tactics were learned from the Sons of Agni, but that would discredit the other rebellion and militia groups in the Earth Kingdom. The Sons of Agni may be the most successful at keeping the Fire Nation back but they certainly weren’t the only ones giving them a hard time.

While the newly liberated earthbenders kept his mind occupied for a while, Lu Ten’s thoughts eventually drifted towards his father. He looked so much older than the last time Lu Ten saw him and Lu Ten had a sinking feeling in his stomach that the cause was his own death.

His father watching over Zuko wasn’t too much of a shock, the three, Lu Ten, his father and Zuko, had always been close. Still, it hurt slightly to think his father might be trying to replace him. He knew that wasn’t fair, that his father thought him dead and was looking for comfort where he could find it but that didn’t change the way he felt about it.

Regardless of his thoughts on his father replacing him, he was glad his baby cousin had someone looking out for him. Lu Ten was beginning to wonder if there wasn’t more to this whole scar story, than Iroh was telling him about, as he had never seen so much rage in his cousin’s eyes. Zuko had always been an intense child, but what Lu Ten just saw went beyond intense, he seemed desperate.

His thoughts on Zuko, brought him around to the thing that was bothering him the most. Iroh and Mako seemed perfectly content to let Lu Ten wander into that situation unaware. At first he had assumed they didn’t mention Zuko because they were giving him space to work out what he saw, but after realizing his father was there too, something neither Iroh nor Mako seemed surprised at, he realized that the two men had intentionally tried to keep the information from him.

That wasn’t okay. They had agreed, over a year ago, to put all their cards on the table and while things like Iroh’s secret society and the other two men’s past from the future, were things Lu Ten was willing to let slide, this wasn’t something they should have kept from him.

Iroh seemed to have picked up on the slowly building anger in Lu Ten and stepped away from him, towards the front of their new travel group. Mako on the other hand, stood next to Lu Ten, occasionally sending him concerned looks and trying to cheer him up by awkwardly pointing out wildflowers on the side of the road.

While normally, Lu Ten would bask in having Mako’s undivided attention, he was currently pissed at the man, and eventually got tired enough of his antics, to walk off himself. 

He ended up next to the twelve-year-old, Yong, this rescue mission started with. Despite the hardships he just weathered, the kid still had an upbeat attitude as he marched along next to his brothers. Lu Ten wasn’t really sure he wanted to know what happened to their father.

“You okay, kiddo?” Lu Ten asked, moving closer to the group of brothers. They seemed slightly hesitant to talk to the firebender of the group, and while Lu Ten both understood it and was used to it, it never really took away the sting that came with the initial rejection.

“Yeah,” Yong replied, shying behind his brothers.

“You know,” Lu Ten started, “your mother was the one who sent us to save all of you?”

Yong’s eyes went wide with wonder, his brothers seemingly surprised themselves. 

“Really?” Yong asked.

“Yeah,” Lu Ten said, nodding. “She was very brave and very smart. Smart enough to find us without our masks on. She invited strangers into her home, and asked us to help you. When we found out that one of you was so young, we couldn’t do anything other than come save you. I’ll admit though, this rescue mission got a little out of hand.”

“Whoa,” Yong said, “Mom’s so cool. What do you look like under your mask?”

“That my young friend is a trade secret,” Lu Ten said, a smirk on his lips. “But you seem smart, kid. I have no doubt believing you could figure out our secret identities like your mom did, just do me a favor kiddo, and don’t go spreading it around.”

“No sir,” Yong replied. “I won’t tell nobody. Never ever.”

Lu Ten smiled at the kid’s enthusiasm. It reminded him painfully of Zuko the last time he had seen his cousin. His good mood vanished and he vowed that Iroh would tell him the whole story with his cousin, if it was the last thing, he got out of him.

Lu Ten ruffled the kid’s hair absentmindedly, forgetting for a moment that he wasn’t his cousin, and walked off. This wasn’t something that could wait like he thought it was.

Iroh looked at him hesitantly as he approached. “You okay, Lu?” He asked. Mako sidled up next to them.

“I’m mad at you, both of you,” Lu Ten said, heatedly. “I want answers and you two will give them to me.”

Iroh sighed. “Look, Lu,” he started but Lu Ten cut him off.

“No,” Lu Ten said, “You look. That was my cousin. That was my father. You will tell me what’s going on with them and you will never hide their presence from me again. Do you understand?”

“I may not be able to -” Iroh tried again.

“Then find the ability,” Lu Ten said, cutting him off again. Iroh backed off, finally understanding that Lu Ten was way too pissed off about this to back down.

“I’m sorry,” Iroh said. “I didn’t want to upset you and I honestly thought they would leave. I also didn’t think your father would get involved.”

“I’m sorry too,” Mako said, trying to grab at Lu Ten’s shoulder. Lu Ten dodged it, not wanting Mako touching him right now. Mako seemed upset, though resigned by it. “I didn’t think you saw them and you were already upset. I trusted Ro’s intel that they would leave and figured we could explain it later.”

“Yeah,” Lu Ten said, unkindly, “You two always want to explain something later.”

“Lu,” Mako said, “we really didn’t mean to hurt you with this.”

Lu Ten laughed snidely. “Intentions aren’t results,” Lu Ten said, “Isn’t that something you like to say, Mako?”

Mako fell silent. He looked really upset and Lu Ten wondered for a moment if he hadn’t gone too far. He was getting tired of Mako’s ability to shut his anger, righteous or not, down.

Lu Ten closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. When he let it out, he said, “Don’t start lying to me. Now that I know my family has been lying to me my whole life, the idea of you two doing it? It makes me so mad, but mostly it hurts. Stop lying, even by omission, and stop keeping me out of the loop. I can’t do things if I’m not fully prepared. We could have died today because I froze when I saw my father, had his aim not been off. we would have been fried.”

Mako bumped Lu Ten’s shoulder. Lu Ten looked down at the man.

“Sorry,” Mako said. “I really thought I was protecting you but I know how frustrating being left out can feel. No more secrets?”

“No more secrets,” Iroh seconded, looking up at Lu Ten with his stupid pleading eyes. Lu Ten hated that look. It always got him in trouble, he just couldn’t resist helping Iroh or forgiving him, even when he shouldn’t. Lu Ten wondered where he got such a cute begging expression because it certainly wasn’t Zuko.

“No more secrets,” Lu Ten repeated. “Well, actually, you can keep personal secrets. I kind of don’t want to know any secret fantasies or like if you keep a secret collection of random fruit, you can keep that to yourself.”

“Why would someone collect fruit?” Mako asked. “How would that even work without it rotting?”

“Though, with that in mind” Lu Ten said, as if Mako hadn’t spoken. He really didn’t need them getting off track right now, and a question like that would have them rambling on until they were talking about something completely different, like their place in the universe or something. “I want to know what’s going on with my cousin and father. I don’t need to know everything about your time period or anything between here and then, but if its relevant, clue me in.”

“You intentionally backed me into this corner, didn’t you?” Iroh asked.

“Yes,” Lu Ten said, shamelessly.

Iroh huffed. “Okay, so Zuko convinced your father to let him attend a war meeting. At the war meeting he pissed off a high General or something and was challenged to an Agni Kai. Zuko thought the General would be the one he was fighting but-”

Lu Ten felt his stomach drop. “But he spoke out in the Fire Lord’s chamber, meaning the Fire Lord could choose to take up the Agni Kai in the General’s stead,” Lu Ten filled in softly. “His father took up the Agni Kai and burned off the left side of his face.”

“Yeah,” Iroh said, he paused as if mulling something over. He seemed to decide against keeping it too himself. “It’s a bit worse than that. Zuko surrendered when he saw it was his father. Usually that’s an automatic forfeit but Ozai, despite the rules, refused to except those terms. If Zuko wanted to speak out against the Fire Lord then he would suffer the consequences.”

“I’m hesitant to ask,” Lu Ten said, “but where was my father during all of this.”

“In the audience,” Iroh said, emotionlessly.

When Lu Ten next got the opportunity, he was so tearing into his father over that.

“He was banished by Fire Lord Ozai after that,” Iroh continued. “Only to return when he captured the Avatar.”

“That’s a joke of a quest,” Lu Ten said. His heart was breaking for his baby cousin.

“Yeah, and my grandfather knew it, but when hope is all you have left,” Iroh trialed off with a shrug. The Iroh surprised Lu Ten by laughing. “Funny thing is, he did finally find the Avatar, or well, my grandmother Katara technically found him but same difference.”

“Then he joined the Avatar?” Lu Ten questioned. It didn’t seem like something his cousin would do but who knew how banishment could change a person.

Mako snorted. “Did you join us easily?” Mako asked.

“Fair enough,” Lu Ten replied.

“Eventually, he joined the team but only after a lot of things happened first. I won’t get into them now because they aren’t really relevant,” Iroh said, stressing the irrelevance of the topics. “He spent a good bit of time hunting them down first. It was why I was convinced he would leave. He was constantly moving during his search. I wasn’t expecting him to stay put, nor was-”

Iroh paused again. Lu Ten looked over at him to see a battle taking place on his face. 

“Technically,” he finally said, “this isn’t my secret to tell but, in the honor of our newest agreement, well, your father was my White Lotus contact in that port city. The Order of the White Lotus, is a cross-national organization that is dedicated to preserving balance in the world. They can be set in their ways and don’t always have the best ideas but at the end of the day, their heart’s in the right place and they usually make a difference in the world for the better.”

“Your father became a member on his quest to find your spirit,” Iroh continued. “I have been forcibly been recruited against my will. He was the other reason I was expecting Zuko to leave. He told me his nephew was impatient to leave but I guess Zuko thought catching the Sons of Agni would be a good second to catching the Avatar.”

Lu Ten decided that was enough information for one day and dismissed the other two to help set up camp for the night. He had a lot to think about. 

No one was too worried about being attacked. It would take a lot to take them out with that many earthbenders in one place.

The journey back to the earthbenders’ town was a lot longer than the one to the port town but while the benders were impatient to get home, they weren’t as impatient as Lu Ten had been to get to them.

The Fire Nation troops scrambled when the earthbenders returned, the Sons of Agni with them. That apparently wasn’t a hill they were willing to die on.

They stayed for the party thrown in their honor, and as Lu Ten watched Mako gambling with the locals, he realized one more secret being kept from him. A secret he was keeping from himself.

“I’m in love with Mako,” Lu Ten said, softly.

Iroh, who was sitting next to him, laid his head on his shoulder. “Yeah,” he said. “I figured you were. It’ll be okay.”

Despite Iroh’s encouraging words, Lu Ten couldn’t help but think it wouldn’t be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay but 118,346 words later, book one is finally done. All that's left is to publish it. Hopefully, should nothing interrupt me today, I will be breaking ground on book two and boy am I excited because we will finally get to meet the Gaang and a whole lot of other people. Poor Lu Ten has a big storm coming as he returns to the place that nearly killed him.
> 
> This is the last of Lu Ten's mini arc, the next mini arc is Iroh's which was absolutely horrendous to write for some odd reason and has been re-written several times until I finally liked how it was structured.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!


	19. Detective Work - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako gets intel from the worst covert messenger ever, finds a group of their most useful allies yet, discovers Lu Ten's bad taste in men, and realizes something, he'd rather wish he didn't know. All in a day's work for Republic City's Greatest Detective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mako's high levels of stupid and Lu Ten's questionable taste in men. Also slight homophobia mentioned on the northern water tribe's part.

Mako wasn’t entirely sure why they had wandered north into the colonies. There wasn’t any intel or mission that dragged them up there. As best as Mako could figure the three of them mutually, but silently agreed they were going to poke the beast a little.

Mako and Iroh were decked out in their Fire Nation outfits, not even wanting to tempt fate by dressing any other way. 

They had settled in this particular colony last night, Iroh immediately taking off to who knew where without comment, only to return the next morning tired, sore and extremely happy. It was the first night in the past two weeks, the three men hadn’t shared a bed.

Mako and Lu Ten had taken it upon themselves to only rent single, double bed rooms, after Iroh started having reoccurring nightmares. Mako still didn’t know what the nightmares were about, and if Lu Ten did, he wasn’t sharing. They just knew the nightmares had Iroh crying out and panicked upon waking up.

Mako eventually figured out where Iroh had run off to, when he noticed the shirshu resting outside the local bar. Apparently, June lived above the bar, though Mako wasn’t sure why Iroh went to see the woman who kidnapped him once.

Lu Ten and Iroh, who was squinting at being outside the way only hungover people did, seemed to be stocking up on supplies in the market.

Mako wandered past them, towards the outskirts of the colony. While Lu Ten and Iroh were looking for supplies, Mako was looking for a last bit of trouble to cause.

He never really got the chance, as a strange man, who thought he was stealthier than he was, motioned for Mako to follow him. Mako wasn’t sure what this man thought he was dodging but it was rather amusing watching him bump into random things, in his attempt to avoid civilians.

Maybe it was stupid to follow a random man back into the woods but he didn’t seem entirely there. Mako figured he could take him easily if needed. Hopefully, Iroh and Lu Ten wouldn’t find his body lying dead in the woods later.

They walked until Mako could no longer see the town. 

Mako used the trip to practicing a new earthbending ability he had dug up from his fake memories. He didn’t dig through them as much as Iroh but on occasion he went looking for earthbending forms. He was rather proud of his ability to muffle his own footsteps to near silence. He had managed to sneak up on Lu Ten several times like this but it still didn’t work on Iroh.

The man stopped and threw back the hood of his poncho. Mako wasn’t sure how to tell the man that he had been able to see his face the entire time. He decided to keep it to himself.

“Are you Rozin?” the man asked. “I was headed south to find the Sons of Agni when whispers said you were here.”

“Yeah,” Mako answered, wondering just how dumb this man was, that he didn’t even know who he was looking for. He was also slightly concerned that it was so easy to locate them. “That’s me, waterbender extraordinaire. What can I do for you?”

“My name is Chey,” the man, Chey, said. “I have information from Jeong Jeong the Deserter.”

“Oh?” Mako asked, wondering if he was supposed to know who Jeong Jeong was off the top of his head, maybe he was one of Iroh’s old guys. “What would that be?”

Chey handed him a scroll, once again not bothering to check Mako’s identity. Whoever Jeong Jeong was, they needed better messengers.

Mako unrolled the scroll and as he read, his stomach dropped. It was a military correspondence that was intercepted. It detailed a Naval attack by the Fire Nation on the Ba Sing Se Ferry Waystation. They were going to try and take out the refugee pathway, again. They were going to attack from the Midway River.

The Midway River cut the southern part of the Earth Kingdom off from the northern part. Mako and the others were well familiar with the river, having crossed it several times in their years guarding the Middle Earth Kingdom. It was a vital pathway for not only refugees but also the remaining free areas of the Earth Kingdom.

It wouldn’t be a straight attack from the water to the waystation, but if they could get their boats down the river, it would be an easy enough land attack from there. If successful, it would also completely cut the northern Earth Kingdom villages still rebelling, from being able to reach their allies in the south.

The correspondence was signed by someone named Captain Zhao and dated to take place in two weeks. Mako hoped this Zhao wasn’t the fool that tried to invade the Northern Water Tribe during the full moon, that brand of crazy wasn’t something he wanted to get involved with.

He rolled the parchment back up, only just now noticing the lotus flower seal on it.

“Thanks,” Mako said to Chey, not really meaning it. “We will get on this as soon as possible.”

“Right,” Chey said, “good luck.”

He pulled his hood up before dodging and ducking his way out of the woods.

When Mako arrived back at the inn the three men were staying at, he found Iroh stretched out over the bed with his face buried in the mattress, as Lu Ten sat on the floor attempting to fit everything they just bought into their totes.

Mako dropped the letter down on Iroh’s back. Iroh raised his eyebrows before dragging the correspondence around so he could read it. He groaned and dropped the parchment on the ground next to Lu Ten.

Lu Ten’s response wasn’t much better. “Huh, he’s a Captain now,” Lu Ten said, absentmindedly as he finished reading. “Not good, he’s always been one to take the important missions. I can’t say, this surprises me but we can’t really let him win this and if we don’t interfere, he just might. He’s short sighted, but a rather genius tactician when not distracted by his own ego.”

“You know this guy?” Mako asked, incredulously.

Lu Ten’s face went bright red for some odd reason as he stuttered out some nonsense about knowing him through the military and nobility. Even Iroh looked confused at that reaction.

“Okay,” Iroh said, drawing the word out. He turned to Mako as he continued, “It’s Admiral Zhao, Mako. He just hasn’t been promoted yet, if he’s crazy enough to kill the moon spirit I think we need to worry about this.”

“What?” Lu Ten asked, his face transitioning from blush to pale at an alarming speed.

“You don’t want to know,” Mako replied. He couldn’t believe they were dealing with the same nutjob here. This wasn’t going to be the easy mission Mako originally thought it would be. It was with that thought, that Mako realized something else.

“Uh, guys,” Mako said, “how exactly are were going to fight a Naval invasion? We don’t have any boats and there’s only three of us.”

“Oh,” Lu Ten replied, “I just assumed we would meet them on land.”

“No,” Iroh imputed, “Mako’s right, that’s cutting it too close. If we slip up even a little, they will get the waystation. We need to stop them before they get down the river. I suppose we can see what’s around when we get there, at the very least we have one thing the Fire Nation won’t have.”

Lu Ten looked amused. “Let me guess,” Lu Ten said, “a badass waterbender.”

“Yep,” Iroh said, smugly.

“Oh sure,” Mako said, with a laugh. 

They set off the next day and made it down to the river in about a week. This left them with a week to prepare for the river invasion and still no boats. There, surprisingly, wasn’t a village at the mouth of the river on either side, so the three of them set up camp along the bank of the northern side. They would cross the river and attempt to convince the village out towards Omashu, to help them. If worse came to worse, there was an Earth Kingdom base across the next river south.

At least that was the plan before Mako stumbled across his greatest find yet, when looking for firewood. Mako was familiar with the style of boat, having seen plenty of them, from not only his time in the Southern Water Tribe, but also during the Water Tribe Civil War.

They were lined up along the shore and Mako could see smoke rising up a little way off from the boats. He wondered for a moment if these Water Tribesmen knew about the attack or just happened to be in the area.

Mako crept closer towards the Water Tribe camp, hoping none of them would notice him. He just wanted a good idea of their numbers. He wasn’t planning on talking to them until he had Iroh, in front of him.

While Iroh, and his false identity, were Fire Nation, they were also Water Tribe, and more importantly a waterbender. Hopefully these men would listen to Iroh, more easily than they would the typical stranger.

There were about thirty of them, but all of them seemed upbeat, and cheerful. He wondered just how long these men had been out here fighting. He didn’t stick around much longer to find out, slowly making his way back to his own campsite.

“Um, Mako,” Lu Ten said, “Not that I’m telling you how to do your job but where’s the firewood?” 

“I found something better,” Mako replied.

“Oh?” Lu Ten asked. “Is it going to help us sustain this fire?”

“I may have figured out where to get water assistance from. Men from one of the Water Tribes are camped out just east of our position. They seem pretty excited to bash some Fire Nation heads,” Mako said, ignoring Lu Ten’s comment.

“Hopefully, not ours,” Lu Ten replied, as Iroh froze in place.

“Nah, not if we send in Ro to talk to them,” Mako said. “Just Zhao’s head hopefully.”

Lu Ten made a face at that comment, blushing again and shaking his head. Mako really wanted to know what that was about.

“I can’t talk to them,” Iroh said, before Mako was able to ask.

“What?” Mako and Lu Ten said, at the same time.

“I can’t, okay,” Iroh said, curling into himself. “They aren’t too accepting of Fire Nation, not even those who are also Water Tribe, without GranGran or Aunt Kya there to run interference I would have been completely cut out from the Southern Water Tribe. I love that side of my culture, and I feel most at home there but that didn’t mean they wanted me. I can’t.”

Lu Ten scooted over to Iroh and pulled him into his side.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, Ro,” Lu Ten said, “but we really need you to do this.”

“I know,” Iroh muttered into Lu Ten’s shoulder.

“If it makes you feel better,” Mako said, “they seem like really chill people, and those in the south in our time are mostly northerners anyway. These are actual Southern Water Tribe people. They may be more accepting. Isn’t that how it worked? Those who hated the strict ways of the north made their way south?”

“I guess,” Iroh replied. “I’ll talk to them in the morning.”

Lu Ten pulled Iroh into a tighter hug. “Thank you,” he said releasing him.

Mako didn’t hesitated to pull Iroh into his own hug. Despite not being a younger sibling, Iroh often melted into Mako’s big brother hugs. This time was no exception.

“So,” Mako said, attempting to change the subject, “What’s up with you and Zhao, Lu? Do you have a bad history or something? You’ve been acting strange every time we bring him up.”

“I’d rather not answer,” Lu Ten said, quickly.

“Oh,” Mako said, “Alright, but are you going to be fine fighting him? This isn’t going to be something personal will it?”

“My grandfather had a bad history with Zhao,” Iroh said, chiming in, “If that history extends to you, we need to know going in.”

“No, that’s not it,” Lu Ten said, running his hand through his hair. He had taken it down from the braid Iroh kept putting it in. His hair, now down to mid-back, waved out around him. It looked soft. Mako shook his head.

“You two keep talking about how he invaded the North Pole and then there’s this mission and I already knew how he acted before I left. I’m having a hard time reconciling the fact that I used to have a crush on him when I was sixteen, okay? He was a hot twenty-one-year-old and puberty wasn’t fun. The second he spoke words in front of me, I was over it but it’s embarrassing.” Lu Ten said, burying his face in his hands.

Mako’s brain stalled for a minute. He didn’t even know Lu Ten liked men and now he found out, Lu Ten had a crush on the man who invaded the North Pole on a full moon. Mako thought the guy was the same age as Lu Ten’s father, not the same age as Iroh.

“Uh,” Iroh said, his eyes wide, “we didn’t mean to pry and upset you.”

“I’m not upset,” Lu Ten said, “just really embarrassed. I can’t believe I though he was attractive.”

“I can’t believe you did either,” Iroh muttered. “He’s not exactly a looker from the history books I’ve seen.”

Lu Ten’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? He’s not the nicest person and he’s a crazy zealot who would kiss Ozai’s feet if he thought he’d get away with it but he was a looker at twenty-one.”

“Ew,” Iroh said. “No.”

“You don’t even know what he looked like,” Lu Ten defended.

“Yes,” Iroh said. “I do, but fine, he got ugly in less than ten years, I suppose a nasty personality can do that.”

“So,” Mako said, “the consensus is that Lu Ten has shit taste in men.”

Mako had been trying to make the other two men laugh, but Iroh seemed to find the joke way too funny. Lu Ten had dropped his head back into his hands.

“Yes,” Lu Ten said, his voice slightly muffled. “I have really shit taste in men.”

Iroh was struggling to breath at that point and Mako felt like he had missed something.

“Okay,” he said. “I’m just, gonna, go to bed. You two can join me in the tent when you want to act like normal people.”

They waited until after lunch the next day to go talk to the tribesmen. At first Mako was worried they would miss them, but they seemed to be camping here for the long run.

They circled around into the woods, in an effort to make themselves appear as if they hadn’t been watching the men previously. Even Iroh was making stomping noises as they walked through the tree line, into the camp.

The Water Tribesmen reacted instantly, and Mako watched Lu Ten duck a boomerang out of the corner of his eye. He made the most common mistake ever and was knocked to the ground as it swung back around.

Mako and Iroh raised their hands in surrender.

“Whoa, whoa,” Iroh said. “We aren’t here to cause trouble.”

That drew the attention of every one to him. Iroh stood under their curious stares, no doubt wondering who this man dressed in Water Tribe clothing was. Mako would think Iroh completely calm if his hands weren’t shaking slightly.

“Then why are you here?” A man asked, moving towards the front. He had a shoulder length hair with beads tied into two strands at the front. A taller man stood at his back.

Mako was at least glad that their own tall guy had managed to get back to his feet, even if Lu Ten was rubbing at the back of his head and glaring at the man who threw the boomerang.

“We had intel that the Fire Nation was about to send ships down this river from a friend,” Iroh said. “We were coming to scope out the area. We weren’t really expecting anyone to be here.”

“And how,” the taller man asked, “exactly did a tribesman, if that is what you are, manage to make his way down here?”

Iroh blinked and stood up straight. “Um,” Iroh said, “people from the north travel south all the time. That’s kind of how the South Pole even happened.”

The taller man narrowed his eyes at Iroh, but before he could say anything the other man interjected. “Not in recent years, the blockades have kept them from making it. How did you get out here?”

Iroh sighed and then did something stupid. He took off his mask. “My name is Rozin. I was born in the Fire Nation, but I’m a waterbender. I don’t know if the name Tamia, means anything to you, but she was my grandmother, and she came from the South Pole, which is where I assume you all are from. She was taken in the raids and managed to escape the Fire Nation’s waterbender prisons, but had no way out of the Fire Nation without risk of being caught. So, she stayed and made the best of what she could. She taught me everything I know. She told me if I ever came across the Southern Water Tribe to ask for Kanna, I’m going to assume she’s not here.”

Mako watched the tribesmen’s faces as Iroh spoke. At first, there was anger at his mention of the Fire Nation but it quickly dissolved into shock when he said he was a waterbender. The name Tamia, seem to resonate with a few of the older tribesmen, as well as their leader. Greif was the next emotion that spread across the group as the raids were mentioned, followed by a slight bit of pride at the idea of Tamia managing to escape. Acceptance, was the final emotion from the group, as their leader’s shoulders relaxed at the mention of whoever Kanna was.

“Kanna is my mother,” the leader said. “My name is Hakoda. Tamia was one of my mother’s best friends when she was younger. They sailed to the South Pole together. I will admit we are rather new to this area, most of our fighting until now was kept to southern waters, but if you say there are Fire Nation soldiers headed down this river, we would be happy to help. Though, out of curiosity, are you that masked vigilante group? The Sons of Agni?”

“We are,” Iroh said, sliding his mask back over his face.

“Who are your friends then?” Hakoda asked. “If they are willing to share their names.”

The way he said it, implied their names were the price of the tribe’s trust. Mako and Lu Ten nodded at Iroh.

“This is Mako, he’s an earthbender,” Iroh said, before pausing, “and the one who’s never seen a boomerang is Lu, he’s a firebender but he defected so he’s alright.”

“He’s defective?” The man with the boomerang said. The men around him laughed, as Hakoda shook his head and said, “Kik, control yourself.”

“That too,” Mako joked. Lu Ten punched him in the arm but the joke broke the tension of the group quite nicely.

Iroh’s fears were unfounded, as the tribesmen wasted no time pulling him back into their folds. 

An older man, the eldest on the voyage, made his way over. He was apparently a healer, as he immediately pulled Lu Ten down on his level to check the back of his head.

“He’s got a hard head,” Mako said. “I’d check the boomerang first.”

Kik laughed from behind Mako, as he picked up said boomerang. Lu Ten just stood there pouting as the old man declared him living.

“Name’s Dani,” the old man said, offering his hand to Lu Ten. Lu Ten stared at it in confusion before Iroh saved him by gripping the old man’s arm at his elbow. The old man copied him as Iroh said, “Roizn, but I already told you that.”

“You know,” Dani said, “I knew your Grandmother, she, Kanna and Hama were inseparable. Do you know what happened to the rest?”

Iroh closed his eyes. “Hama escaped with my grandma, they split up because they had differing opinions on what they should do next. They were the only ones I know of that got out but shortly after that they stopped taking them prisoner.”

“They just came and killed them,” Dani said, gruffly. “They stopped taking them and just started killing them instead.”

“I figured,” Iroh said, softly. Lu Ten looked extremely guilty and heartbroken over what he heard.

“Can I speak to you for a moment,” Hakoda said, tapping Iroh on the shoulder.

“Of course,” Iroh said, following him off a little ways. They sat down by a fire to talk, Dani gesturing Mako and Lu Ten towards the same fire. They were on the opposite side, and unable to hear what Iroh and Hakoda discussed.

With Iroh distracted with Hakoda, the rest of the tribe took it upon themselves to quiz Mako and Lu Ten.

“Nasty burn scars,” Kik said, sitting down next to Lu Ten, and gesturing to Mako. His question about how Mako got them unspoken.

“Oh yeah,” Mako said, looking down at his arms. “The one on my left arm is older, happened before we got dragged into the war, but the other was from when we busted a bunch of earthbenders out of a prison transport ship.”

Dani raised his eyebrows and hummed. “We haven’t heard about that one,” Dani said.

“You three were all we heard about on the way up here,” Kik said, “apparently everyone was excited about you three blowing up a military fort recently.”

Mako winced. “Yeah, that was kind of an accident,” He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Impressive accident,” Dani replied.

Hakoda was watching them from across the fire, he apparently didn’t miss Mako’s story. He seemed pretty impressed too, as he turned back to Iroh.

After a while of talking and getting to know the tribesmen, Mako began to notice something. There was not a single member of the tribe who didn't have a necklace around their necks.

For some, like Hakoda, the necklaces were clearly hunting trophies. Kik, on the other hand, had a necklace more similar to the betrothal necklaces that Mako had researched, back when he thought about proposing to Korra. Dani's necklace was similar to Kik's but different enough from everyone else's to draw Mako's attention. It was also familiar, though Mako couldn't place why.

It was dinner time before Mako bothered asking about it.

“What's with the necklaces?” Mako finally asked Dani, once his curiosity grew too strong. Lu Ten turned towards their conversation, also seemingly interested in this strange necklace culture.

Iroh was still off on the other side of the fire talking to Hakoda.

“Necklaces hold deep meaning to our people, a meaning that translates even between tribes, though there are admittedly some necklace meanings we have, that our northern counterparts are too stuffy to allow.” Dani explained.

“Some are marks of warrior status,” he continued, gesturing out towards Hakoda, “Artic wolf teeth, from his first ever hunt. Others are betrothal necklaces, like Kik's, he's married to Valas.”

Dani gestured over to a man who could probably give Lu Ten a run for his money on height. Mako was surprised to see he had his own betrothal necklace around his neck.

Apparently, Mako didn't hide his surprise well, as Dani said, “The Southern Water Tribe is more open to varying identities than the North. Betrothal necklaces aren't necessary for marriage in our tribe, but you can use them. They are surprisingly more popular among same sex couples of the tribe. I’m not entirely sure why.”

“I wouldn't have expected the Water Tribes to be so openminded,” Lu Ten said. He seemed to realize how offensive than might come off and tried to unsuccessfully save his statement. “No offense meant, I've just heard, that the North was a bit backwards about women and sexuality. I assumed the South was the same.”

Dani stared at Lu Ten for a moment before letting the comment mostly slide. He shook his head. “Many of our people are from the North or children and grandchildren of those from the North, much like your friend Rozin. They were all escaping something oppressive about the North, be it wanting to be a woman waterbending master, wanting the ability to choose who you marry, or wanting to express an identity frowned upon in the North.” Dani explained.

“Huh,” Lu Ten said.

“So, if it isn't an out of bounds question,” Mako started, “what's your necklace represent? It’s different from the others but also kind of familiar.”

“The full moon necklaces traded in monogamous relationships, are representative of not just Tui but also the circular give-take of the partnership. When people come together in a relationship, it is upheld as a circular bond. The push and pull, continuous circular motion of Tui and La. A partnership built on give and take,” Dani explained. “However, there are those of the tribe who build partnerships of more than two and who sometimes never build permanent partnerships at all. The Northern Water Tribe does not allow the expression of those identities, nor do they really allow for expression of identities outside of their definition of a partnership, namely a woman and man.”

Dani shook his head. “It’s slightly stupid of them, considering Tui and La are both males, though whether they are brothers or lovers, is still up for debate. No one really knows,” Dani said, with a shrug. “Anyway, these identities that fell outside of these partnerships were encouraged in the south.”

“So, would asexuality fall under those identities?” Lu Ten said.

Dani gave him a confused look.

“It's the Fire Nation's term for people who don't experience sexual attraction,” Mako lied.

“Oh,” Dani said. “Yes, that’s actually what the half-moon of my necklace tells people, that I’m not interested in a sexual relationship, or that I’m not sexually attracted to people.”

Mako suddenly recalled where he had seen a similar necklace before, Dani's necklace reminded Mako of Kya's.

“So,” Mako said, wondering if the necklaces were related, “what about a crescent moon?”

Dani seemed surprised. “Those not interested in romantic relationships wear crescent moon necklaces,” Dani explained. “I’m surprised you knew to ask about that.”  
Mako didn’t bother answering Dani’s unasked question. He didn’t know how to explain without making the man suspicious.

“What about if you're both or in a relationship of sorts?” Lu Ten asked, staring thoughtfully at Iroh's back.

“We call them phase necklaces,” Dani said, “usually it’s a crescent moon hanging off a half moon. Hama, a great waterbender that was taken from our tribe, one of the best, used to wear a phase necklace. No one really bothers making betrothal necklaces for people like us, those who don’t experience sexual or romantic feelings, or even those who explore past monogamy. We usually make our own but I suppose if you really wanted to make someone a necklace like that, you could attach the half-moon to the full moon and have both half and crescent moon hanging.”

Lu Ten was nodding as he continued staring out towards Iroh. Mako felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He was pretty sure at this point Lu Ten was in love with Iroh, but Iroh didn't do love like that and giving him this kind of necklace under those circumstances was wrong. Iroh didn’t want a romantic commitment.

Dani apparently picked up on the situation too. “If you plan to give him a necklace, you need to be sure it’s one he will want,” Dani said. “Don’t force something on him.”

“Yes, sir,” Lu Ten replied, as Dani got up to turn in for the night.

“You're in love with him,” Mako said. Mako felt off about Lu Ten's feelings for Iroh but not the same way he felt finding out about Lu Ten and Zhao. With Zhao it was more wondering what Lu Ten could possibly see in a guy like that, and maybe a bit of jealousy, if Mako was being honest. Lu Ten could do better. 

With Iroh, though, it was concern for Iroh and Lu Ten’s wellbeing. 

“What?” Lu Ten asked, a really odd look crossing his face. “No, no I'm not. I love Iroh, platonically, but not like that. I just figured, it's been over a year since we first talked about QPRs and we still haven’t labeled anything and I think I want to. I don’t know what I’d do without either of you in my life and I want Iroh, and you, to know that. If you don't want to help me, I'll give him the necklace myself but I just thought, its important culturally to him and it’s a good way to show him he's important to me.”

"Oh," Mako said. "In that case count me in. So, what's the plan?"

They spent the rest of the night planning out the necklace. Their conversation drifting into deep emotional territories as they sketched out a plan. Mako realized he may have been talking about more than just his relationship with Iroh during their planning, he was starting to notice something concerning about the way he acted around Lu Ten.

They got carried away with it and their planning only ended when Iroh rejoined them. 

As his friends slept next to him, Mako kept thinking about his relationship with Iroh, and Lu Ten, long into the night. He wasn’t too sure about the conclusion he came to.

He couldn’t be in love with Lu Ten, he just couldn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, don't really like this chapter title, so much about the chapter changed that it doesn't really fit much anymore but I can't really think of a new one and technically it still works so, win some, lose some.
> 
> Mako finally feels the same about Lu Ten!! Smooth sailing from here right? Nope, this is Mako, he makes nothing easy.
> 
> Good-ish news I suppose? I have been trying to keep my chapters uniform between 4500-5000 word and so far it's worked out well but with book two and having to incorporate the things happening in the tv show, my chapters have become longer so while I'm still going to try to keep them between 4500-5000ish words, I'm giving myself 500 words of extra wiggle room. 
> 
> I know having a word cap might be odd but you guys have no idea how much I can ramble on about absolutely nothing. If I don't have a word cap we will be 10,000 words later with Mako talking about string cheese.


	20. Warriors in the Water - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh get's to embrace his Water Tribe heritage and gets a concerning visit from a spirit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Major Character Injury, War, Zhao, discussion of water tribe raids and prisons

Iroh trailed slowly behind his great-grandfather, and wasn’t that a head rush to realize. Iroh had never met the man, Hakoda having died before Iroh was born, but he had heard a story or two about him.

“So,” Hakoda said, sitting down next to one of the camp’s fires, “you’re Tamia’s grandson?”

“Yes, sir,” Iroh lied.

“My mother often told me stories about her two best friends,” Hakoda said. “The Tribe has often wondered what happened to them.”

Hakoda trailed off, his unspoken question lingering.

“Nothing good,” Iroh whispered. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Alright,” Hakoda said, in a way that implied they would eventually circle back around to it. “What about you then?”

“What do you mean?” Iroh asked, very aware of the fact that the tall man had seated himself behind Hakoda. He wasn’t too worried about it though, as Lu Ten and Mako were across the fire.

“Don’t mind Bato, he’s just cautious,” Hakoda said, gesturing to the man, “What was your childhood like, so separated from the Tribe?”

“Typical Fire Nation upbringing, with secret Water Tribe dealings in the dead of night,” Iroh replied. It was true, even from his actual childhood. He was Fire Nation publicly, but mostly Water Tribe behind closed doors, at least up until he came here. “My grandmother taught me how to waterbend, she was very insistent that I only learn Southern style bending. She wanted it persevered without the influence of the North. She was, proud of me, but not really for the typical reasons one would be proud of a grandchild. I was her ultimate revenge against the Fire Nation, so to speak.”

Iroh sighed. “The Fire Nation stole the Southern Water Tribes waterbenders, now the Fire Nation supplied the next generation. It doesn’t really work like that, though. I’m not one or the other,” Iroh stressed. “I’m both, and while it’s hard to balance, it’s important for me to do so. That being said I was often cut off from my Water Tribe heritage, I couldn’t express it, or embrace it the way I wanted. My grandmother shared her culture as much as she could but somethings, well, I wasn’t able to do.”

Iroh had to pause for a moment to re-gather himself. His and Rozin’s memories were overlapping each other to a point where he was mixing the two and loosing where he ended and Rozin began.

“I’m guessing you never got to go ice dodging?” Bato asked, his voice more soothing than Iroh was expecting.

“No,” Iroh replied, “which was twice as horrible because certain places in the Fire Nation have similar traditions, and I still wasn’t able to do it.”

“I’m sorry,” Hakoda said. “It’s not easy being alone is it?”

“It wasn’t,” Iroh replied, glancing over at Lu Ten and Mako who were trying to dodge the other tribesmen’s invasive questions. “I haven’t been alone recently, though. I guess, I found a mini family somewhere along the way.”

“I suppose you did,” Hakoda said, softly. “Well, if you want, though from what you said I’m guessing you might not, you’ll have a place here, too.”

Iroh’s head jerked back around to look at his great-grandfather. Surely, it wouldn’t be that easy, it wasn’t easy in his own time.

“It won’t be easy,” Bato said, reading his expression. “The Tribe is small and tight-knit, but I think between you being Tamia’s grandkid and a waterbender, you may stand a fighting chance.”

“A chance is all I need,” Iroh said.

“That’s the spirit, kid,” Hakoda said, before throwing an impressed look over towards Mako, as he explained some of their recent escapades.

“Well, then,” he said, “a pretty impressive list of accomplishments. I hear that the Blue Dragon is a pretty accomplished waterbender, which brings me back to my actual question.”

Iroh braced himself for having to dive into Tamia and Hama’s backstory, but Hakoda surprised him by instead asking, “Would you be able to teach my daughter?”

“Uh, what?” Iroh asked, slightly perplexed.

“My daughter, Katara, is the last waterbender in the South Pole and has no one to teach her,” Hakoda explained. “Would you be able to do so?”

“Uh,” Iroh said, glancing at Mako and Lu Ten, who were now deep in a discussion with Dani. Food was being passed around the fire but it was the last thing on Iroh’s mind.

“I see,” Hakoda said with a sigh.

“It’s not that,” Iroh said, turning to his great-grandfather. “I’d love to teach your daughter about Southern waterbending, I just currently have other obligations to see through, but I promise, that once those obligations are dealt with, or if at any point I find the time before then, I’ll teach your daughter waterbending.”

Iroh wasn’t lying. He really would love to teach his GranGran Southern style waterbending, something she was never able to really learn.

Hakoda, and surprisingly Bato, smiled at him. “Good to hear,” Hakoda said, “but there’s one last thing, I really need to know. From your reaction the first time I asked, I can tell it wasn’t good but please, tell me, what happened to Tamia and Hama. My mother would never forgive me if I didn’t at least ask.”

Iroh bit his lip, knowing this question was coming back around. It was a memory of Rozin’s that he had stumbled upon when digging for more waterbending moves to practice. He was still having nightmares from it. The nightmares eventually reached a point where Mako and Lu Ten were intentionally renting only rooms with a single double bed in an attempt to make him feel safe. It was, admittedly sweet of the two, but nothing was able to chase the fear and horror, he had drawn from those memories.

Rozin had been excited to learn more waterbending from his grandmother, but the lesson he learned that night, and the next several full moons to follow, had been traumatizing. The spirits had done Iroh a favor by hiding that false memory so far back, but Iroh dug it up anyway.

“Waterbenders,” Iroh started, “were deemed too dangerous to be left alive, and it was because of Tamia and Hama’s escape.”

Iroh paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “My GranGran,” Iroh said, speaking of Katara now, “once told me that the Water Tribes were home to the most adaptable people in the world. That both benders and non-benders, alike could change to fit their environment. Waterbenders, in particular though, are unusually creative. Water is something every living thing shares in common, no one can live without it, which means, at the end of the day, water has to be everywhere. From the obvious places like swamps to the surprising places like deserts. Where there is life, there is water.”

Iroh laughed a bit, turning to fully face Hakoda. “It’s funny, my grandfather often said the same thing about fire. Fire brings warmth on cold nights, and cooks foods, that would normally kill you. At the end of the day, where you find people, you will find both water and fire.”

“Interesting philosophy,” Bato said, “but that didn’t answer Chief’s question.”

“No,” Iroh said softly, “I suppose it didn’t.”

Iroh closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “Humans don’t just bring water and fire everywhere we go. We have it inside us as well. Every human, even those who can’t bend, have chi paths that light up with small sparks. Firebenders bend directly from their chi paths, taking those sparks and turning them into an inferno.”  
Bato and Hakoda were listening closely to what he was saying. Hakoda in particular seemed curious about where Iroh was going with this.

“Every human has blood too,” Iroh whispered. “Capillaries and veins and arteries, filled with blood. What is blood, but not another form of water.”

Bato sat up straight, staring at Iroh in shock. Between Bato and Iroh, Hakoda had gone completely still.

“They started small with rats, and slowly worked up to humans. When they perfected it, they took complete control over the guards and walked right out of the prison. They were the only waterbenders still alive in the prison. The rest had either died of disease, or,” Iroh winced, “experimentation. The two split up shortly after, my grandmother just wanted it all to be over but Hama, something broke in Hama. As far as I know, she’s still somewhere in the Fire Nation countryside, taking her so-called revenge out on the wrong people, and using bloodbending to do it.”

“The wrong people?” Bato asked, hesitantly.

Iroh ducked his head. “The average Fire Nation citizen is just as screwed over by this war as the rest of the world. The only places you see wealth in the Fire Nation is the nobility. Outside of that? Poor, destitute, sick, and hungry. Why? That new factory polluting the river is needed to make tanks, so now your food and water supply is filled with sludge. All your crops this year need to go to the front lines, so you and your neighbors get to starve. What are they to do? Uprise? Sure, and get charred for their efforts, just like everyone else. If what Hama wanted was revenge, she should have gone after the Southern Raiders, not defenseless citizens, who have no control and are beaten down by higher society. No, she’s not getting revenge, she’s mercilessly killing people.”

Hakoda and Bato didn’t seem to know what to do with that new information.

“Did your grandmother teach you how to do this type of bending?” Hakoda asked. Iroh hesitated before nodding.

“Don’t teach it to my daughter,” Hakoda warned, “and don’t tell anyone else.”

“I would never teach anyone how to bloodbend. I didn’t even want to learn it,” Iroh whispered.

“You’re a good kid, Rozin,” Hakoda said, patting Iroh on the back. “Glad to have you here.”

Iroh knew a dismissal when he heard one and walked off to join Lu Ten and Mako. Their conversation cut off as Iroh approached and Iroh couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about.

They stayed in the Water Tribe camp, though they still wore their masks, and grew rather close to certain members like Kik and Dani over the next week. Iroh could feel both Hakoda and Bato watching him closely.

Iroh also noticed Mako and Lu Ten behaving oddly, as the days went by. In fact, Iroh didn’t see them at all their first full day with the Water Tribe, the two having disappeared off with Valas and Dani for the whole day. As the week continued Lu Ten and Mako’s behavior went from odd to outright weird.

Iroh had woken up just this morning to Lu Ten trying to hang him. At least, that’s what Iroh assumed Lu Ten was doing with the piece of rope he had wrapped around Iroh’s neck.

“Um, good morning?” Iroh questioned.

“Morning,” Lu Ten replied, throwing the rope across their tent and exiting quickly. Iroh wasn’t awake enough to deal with whatever that was.

He was soon wide awake though as Hakoda plopped down next to him at breakfast.

“Eat up, kid,” he said. “Today’s the day.”

Iroh wasn’t looking forward to it. They had a plan laid out that consisted of the Water Tribe using their eight or so boats, to out maneuver the five or six Fire Nation boats that would be heading down the river. Mako and Lu Ten would be sailing on one of the smaller boats but Hakoda wanted Iroh on the lead ship with him, since that was the boat taking on the ship Zhao would be on.

The Water Tribe, much like the Sons of Agni, operated on guerilla and ambush style warfare, so the two groups were on the same page as far as how this attack was going down. Mako was to use his pillar trick, as there wasn’t much earthbending he could do over the water. Lu Ten was mostly defensive. Iroh was sure it was due to the Water Tribe not really trusting him but no matter how much Iroh argued on Lu Ten’s behalf as a fighter, Hakoda refused to budge. Lu Ten wasn’t going to land on a Fire Nation ship, not where he could potentially double-cross them.

Iroh had a bad feeling about that idea but that too, was silenced. Iroh hadn’t yet earned the respect of the Tribe, they wouldn’t listen to him, not even Hakoda. It hurt, but Iroh already knew this song and dance. He was hoping to prove himself during this battle, it was something he had never managed to do in his own time.

Iroh waited nervously on the lead ship, staring out over the water at Lu Ten. Mako was also watching him, but Iroh was amused to notice, his staring was a bit more towards Lu Ten’s hips. Lu Ten was hunched in on himself, as if he could make himself small enough, he could disappear off the ship. Iroh hoped Lu Ten could prove himself too.

The Fire Nation ships came around the corner into their ambush. Stopping didn’t seem to be their plan as they continued forward. Zhao was at the bow of the ship, watching the smaller Water Tribe ships. Iroh could feel his satisfaction at the idea of plowing through these boats. Zhao was underestimating them though, because nothing moved quicker in the water than a Water Tribe ship.

Iroh watched Zhao’s smirk drop as the ships quickly moved from a blockade formation to attack. The Midway river, was luckily rather large at this point, allowing for greater movement of the ships. Zhao’s ships on the other hand were stuck in the deeper parts of the river.

Iroh made the jump when Hakoda did, as planned and landed on the deck. Hakoda had wanted to play tricky and told Iroh not to use his bending until exposed. He wasn’t surprised to be exposed immediately, what with his mask marking him as a Son of Agni.

Zhao didn’t hesitate to immediately take up Iroh in battle. Zhao’s flames weren’t necessarily wild but they certainly weren’t tamed or aimed properly. Zhao’s strategy seemed to be burn as much as he could.

Iroh instinctively fell back on his firebending training, watching Zhao’s steps and marking his movements. He wasn’t really waterbending anymore, but the water followed his firebending forms regardless. Iroh had learned about mixed bending styles from both real and fake memory, and he had adapted a few forms over the years, but nothing to the scale he was accidentally doing now.

He probably shouldn’t have been testing a new skill in a battle environment, though, because his next move didn’t translate properly and brought him face to face with Zhao without an attack.

Zhao grabbed this jaw and Iroh felt the heat from his hand. It burned hotter and Iroh could smell burning flesh, a scent he was all too used to, as Zhao lifted him off the ground.

Iroh heard yelling and felt the ship rock with a loud thud, that sent Zhao sliding across the deck. Iroh tried to heal his face, but his vision was blurring. He couldn’t breathe properly.

Another shout followed, getting closer and closer as it yelled. 

“Step away from him!” he heard, as his vision fully clouded over. Whoever his savior was, responded too late, as Iroh felt a strong push launch him over the railing and into the water.

His vision went fully black as he hit the water.

“Iroh,” came a voice from the void.

“Iroh,” it repeated, “get up.”

Within the darkness of his vision Iroh could suddenly see a koi pond. He was standing on the banks of it, looking into the water, as two fish circled one another, continuously.

“Iroh,” the voice said, now projecting from the black fish, “protect them.”

Iroh wasn’t sure when he had walked into the water but suddenly, he was sinking into the koi pond. 

“Push and pull, Iroh,” the koi fish said. “Go now champion, push and pull.”

His eyes shot open to find himself submerged in the river.

He pulled, the water swirling around him in a move he had at some point learned but never practiced. It formed a spout that launched him up and out of the water to tower over the ships below.

He pushed, the water launching out from his water spout and swiping the Fire Nation soldiers from the deck of the ship in front of him, sending them tumbling into the water below.

Whatever spell he had been under slowly dissipated, leaving Iroh suspended on a water spout several feet in the air. He was surprised to feel it not giving way, only to realized, he was the one who created it, not whatever spirit he had just spoken to. La, he had spoken to La.

With new determination, Iroh looked out over the battle field. The person who had come to his aide, turned out to be Lu Ten, who was no longer standing calmly on his original ship deflecting fire blast, but staring up at Iroh in shock from Zhao’s boat. Zhao who had previously been fighting him, was doing the same.

Fair enough, Iroh didn’t know he could do this either.

Iroh pushed out, before pulling back and a wave swept up under his command, one he rode towards the deck of the lead Fire Nation ship and brought down directly on top of Zhao.

Zhao coughed and sputtered before Iroh froze him to the deck of the ship.

He launched another wave to the side, capsizing the ship next to them that had remained relatively safe until now. One of the ships was already attempting to retreat and Iroh helped it along, launching it back until it rolled under a wave.

The Water Tribe had completely taken one of the ships and the crew was subsequently launched over board, climbing up onto the only ship still standing if they could make it. Mako’s rock pillars had already sunk the other remaining ship.

Hakoda called for a retreat of his men. They had no way to hold these people, so allowing them to retreat was the only course of action, aside from killing them.

Iroh decided to help them on the way, pushing with the river current to launch the now useless Fire Navy ships out towards the ocean. Zhao could still be seen frozen to the bow of his ship, as it disappeared back down the river.

The water dropped slightly under the Water Tribe boats but they held their positions in the river. With the ships long gone, Iroh pulled back slowly drawing the water, and only the water, back to where it was supposed to be.

The boats rose slowly back up as the water level rose around them.

“Tui’s gills,” Hakoda said, staring at Iroh, where he was swaying back and forth under his exhaustion. He had really just done that.

Iroh laughed incredulously, before recalling his neck injury as pain flared from the abrupt movement.

Iroh hissed in pain. Dani was already moving his way with a burn cream but Iroh got to it with water first.

Dani dropped his burn cream to the deck of the boat as most of the scar disappeared under Iroh’s healing. All that remained was a chunky line where Zhao’s palm had rested against his jaw.

“I forgot waterbenders could do that,” Dani said, moving on to another patient. “It’s been so long.”

“You were holding out on us,” Kik accused.

“I was holding out on myself,” Iroh said, his eyes still wide.

Hakoda laughed. “Well, regardless, you did good kid. Take a rest, you’ll need it tomorrow,” He said.

Iroh stared at Hakoda in confusion, but followed his advice.

He, and his friends, were asleep until lunch the next day. Iroh, upon waking up, was handed a plate piled high with food by Bato. Bato uncharacteristically winked at Iroh, who was left in confusion as the taller man disappeared into Hakoda’s tent.

Hakoda appeared a short while later and waited till Iroh was finished eating, before dragging Iroh, with Mako and Lu Ten reluctantly trailing behind, out towards the boats.

Iroh wasn’t sure what Hakoda’s deal was but he corralled the three other men onto the boat and sailed them out to the river mouth. There was a beached Fire Nation ship on the southern coast but otherwise there were no signs of the Naval attack.

Iroh wasn’t sure why they were here, until he looked out over the gagged rocks at the mouth of the river. It clicked in his head, what Hakoda was doing.

“You’ve proved yourself a son of the Tribe, now it’s time to prove yourself a warrior. My son was too young for me to do this with before I left. I hope you don’t mind me living vicariously though you?” Hakoda called over the wind.

Iroh felt an excitement he had lost at fourteen, rebuild in him at those words. If he couldn’t ice dodge with his Great Uncle Sokka, then he would rock dodge with his great-grandfather, Hakoda. Not that Hakoda knew the relation.

“Yeah,” Iroh said, a huge smile stretching across his face, “let’s go!”

“Right,” Hakoda said, maintaining the boat at a steady pace away from the rocks. “Ice dodging, or rather rock dodging, is a warrior’s test of bravery, intuition and trustworthiness. A mark of becoming a man, it’s a tradition done at fourteen to mark the transition from boyhood to warrior status. A little on the late side,” Hakoda joked, “but let’s see what you’ve got. Trust is important so I figured your friends, who proved themselves greatly yesterday, were better suited to help you over my warriors. Think you’re ready?”

“More than ready,” Iroh said, practically vibrating where he stood. Mako and Lu Ten seemed to perk up as they realized how important this was to Iroh.

“Got your back, man,” Mako said, patting Iroh shoulder.

“Good,” Iroh said, as Hakoda took a seat.

“Rozin, you steer, otherwise, you know your friends best, you decide what sail they take up. I can’t help you three now,” Hakoda said. “From here on out it’s just the three of you, this ship, Rozin’s leadership, and the sea. Good luck.”

Iroh took a deep breath to center himself, he wasn’t going to mess this up. He had been taught sailing since he was seven and he knew how to sail by heart. He could do it with his eyes closed. 

Mako and Lu Ten on the other hand didn’t. Regardless, Iroh knew they could do this.

“Lu Ten,” He shouted, “You take the main sail, and Mako you take the jib.”

Lu Ten and Mako stared at him blankly in panic. “Mako the sail in the front. Lu Ten the sail in the back.”

Iroh grabbed the steer, as they moved towards the sails. He took one last deep breath before pushing his nerves down.

As they approached the rocks, Iroh shouted over the wind, “Lu Ten dump the mainsail.”

Lu Ten turned to look at Iroh in panic. “Those words mean something I’m sure,” Lu Ten said, his voice high pitched as they moved quickly towards the rocks.  
“Slow down!” Iroh shouted. “The helm is to weather, we are moving too fast, the wind is too strong. We’re rounding up.”

“I don’t,” Lu Ten said, gesturing helplessly. The mainsail rope slipped form Lu Ten’s hands. The wind was blowing too hard.

“What now?” Mako asked, panicked now that Lu Ten lost his sail.

“Mako,” Iroh said, as Mako looked to him for guidance, “calm down and hold steady. Lu Ten, don’t drop the rope. Let the wind out of the sail. I can’t steer if the rudder isn’t in the water and right now, the rudder isn’t in the water.”

Hakoda chuckled as he watched them struggle, but Iroh noticed he never took his eyes off the sails. If Mako and Lu Ten couldn’t keep up, he was going to jump in. Iroh wasn’t going to let him. This was his ice dodging expedition, and he wasn’t going to fail.

“Right,” Lu Ten said, wrapping the rope around his hand.

“Don’t wrap it like that either,” Iroh shouted. “You’ll cut your hand off in this wind.”

“Right,” Lu Ten said again, unwinding his hand and managing to empty the sail of air, accidentally, just in time for them to hit the rocks. The ship veered dangerously as Iroh pulled on the rudder hard, now that it was in the water. They went skidding across a large rock but made it through the first set of rocks. The next set proved just as easy to pass through but the last set of rocks were bunched together oddly.

Iroh got an idea when he noticed the smaller set on the left. While not technically a sailing practice, he had once seen his Great Uncle lean a boat away from scrapping against an ice wall. If he could get enough weight on Hakoda’s side of the boat, they might make this.

“Lu Ten,” Iroh called.

“Oh no,” Lu Ten replied. “Call on Mako.”

“No, you weigh more,” Iroh said.

“What?” Lu Ten asked.

“No time,” Iroh answered. “Just slide as close to Hakoda as you can.”

Lu Ten looked at Iroh hesitantly as he slowly made his way towards Hakoda. Iroh tied the rudder down into the position needed as they approached the rocks, in the long run it wouldn’t matter as the rudder was about to be lifted back out of the water. Then he jumped towards Lu Ten and Hakoda, slamming into the wall off the ship. It was enough weight and force to lean the other side down and away from the larger rocks on their right, even if they did scrape the rocks on the left.  
Once clear of the rocks, and with the boat now crashing back into the water, Iroh slid on his knees back to the rudder to steady the ship. Mako jerked forward under the strength of the wind.

“Dump your sail, Mako,” Iroh said. “We’re good.”

With the sails empty and the ship gently gliding through the water, Iroh nervously turned to Hakoda.

“You’re a little insane, kid,” Hakoda said, standing up, “but I’m impressed by your daring, if slightly afraid of it. Why didn’t you waterbend though? From the stories I heard it was expected in waterbender’s ice dodging expeditions.”

Iroh didn’t even think about waterbending his way out of that. “Um,” he said, “I guess it was because I never learned to sail with my waterbending?”

Hakoda hummed to himself. “Help me get this ship back to camp. We have a ceremony to perform.”

“Chief Hakoda,” Iroh called. Hakoda turned to him as he grabbed at the sails. “Thank you,” Iroh said, his voice breaking on the last word. 

“You earned it,” Hakoda said. “You’re a man of our Tribe, no matter how far away from it you were born. I’m sorry we couldn’t find you sooner.”

They were silent for the rest of the trip back and when the boat hit the shores of the camp, the tribesmen waste no time gathering around the boat.

“Well?” Bato asked. “Did they manage?”

“More than,” Hakoda replied.

Dani brought over a bowl with ink in it.

“Now,” Hakoda said, turning towards the three men. “I request the permission of the Tribe, to allow our lost son to come home, and for his two friends to become honorary members of the Tribe. Any objections?”

Iroh stomach turned, but there was complete silence from the group. Dani winked at him.

“Very well,” Hakoda said. “I allowed Rozin to pick which sails his friends would take up, can I ask, before they are marked why you choose them?”

“Ice dodging ceremonies are based on the position you take up.” Iroh explained to Mako and Lu Ten. “Steering for the wise, the main sail for the brave and the jib for the trusted. Mako’s an earthbender, you won’t find anyone steadier and more grounded than him. I knew if anyone could hold that sail in this wind, it would be him. As for Lu, well, I’ve never met someone as brave as he’s proven these past two or so years, I’ve known him. Though I have met people less clumsy.”

“I didn’t mean to drop the sail,” Lu Ten whined, to the amusement of the Tribe.

Hakoda chuckled as he held up the ink bowl. “Are you taking off your masks or am I marking them?”

“Marking them,” Iroh said. “Lu would be in danger if anyone knew what his face looked like under his mask.”

Hakoda nodded. “Then let the spirits of the water bear witness to these marks. For Rozin, our lost son, returned, the Mark of the Wise. Your quick thinking and ingenuity shown today were unparalleled.” Hakoda said, as he drew an arc and a small dot on the forehead of Iroh’s mask.

Hakoda drew an arc on Mako’s mask as he said, “For Mako, the oh so steady, earthbender, the Mark of the Trusted. May Rozin forever have someone like you at his back.”

Hakoda drew a crescent moon on Lu Ten’s forehead. “For our defective firebender, Lu,” Hakoda joked, as Lu Ten pouted playfully, “the Mark of the Brave. Your courage in the face of the unknown, was impressive as was the courage you displayed in coming to Rozin’s aide. I hope you use that courage well.”

“To Rozin,” Hakoda said, “welcome home and to Mako and Lu, you are now honorary members of the Water Tribe. Congratulations.”

Iroh tried to wipe subtly at his tears under his mask, but Hakoda apparently saw him as he pulled Iroh into a hug. “You did good, kid,” Hakoda said, rubbing Iroh’s back.

Iroh cried harder at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter and the next took major re-writing but I really like them now.
> 
> Anyway I based my ideas behind ice dogging on the dialogue we get from Bato, because it sounded that those positions came with those specific marks.
> 
> Edit: 08Jun2020, My bad to anyone who got a notification of an update. I added chapters to the wrong story. I will update this today since I'm not off on Wednesday, but this is what I get for trying to update two stories at one time.


	21. The Necklace - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys practice bending, make Iroh an important promise, and have a late night discussion that takes a dark turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: (Only with the very end of the chapter) Bloodbending, cannibalisms, military trauma.

Lu Ten wasn't too pleased that he woke up from his dream, of Mako giving him a blowjob, before it could reach its climax. His sex dreams about Mako were usually vague or more foreplay based, due to Lu Ten's lack of knowledge and experience on the subject, but this one had been really nice. He supposed he should be thankful his dream was interrupted, as the potential results would be hard to explain. 

Still, it took him a moment to figure out what woke him up. Iroh whimpering from his left clued him in.

Iroh had been having really bad nightmares over the past few weeks. He wouldn't tell Lu Ten or Mako what they were about but the two were determined to comfort him anyway, so Iroh was tucked up in the middle of the tent between the other two men.

Iroh let out a groaning noise, that probably would have been a no, had he been awake enough to speak.

Lu Ten had hoped that last night’s festivities and accomplishments would have meant Iroh would make it through the night without a nightmare but he had been proven wrong.

Lu Ten reached out to run his hand through Iroh's hair. He and Mako had learned the hard way not to shake him awake. Iroh was not someone to wake up abruptly, even before this nightmare mess, unless you wanted a black eye. Mako called it combat neurosis, but Lu Ten knew it as soldier's heart.

Lu Ten had it as well, his presenting more as panic attacks than nightmares. Mako also had his own brand of the disorder too, though his wasn't military service based. Mako's soldier's heart was quieter than Lu Ten's and Iroh's, presenting more as a general underlying anxiousness that he hid rather well.

Iroh's breathing steadied as he slowly woke up under Lu Ten's petting. Mako, who normally slept till noon if allowed, was awake and watching them propped up on his side.

Iroh looked up at Lu Ten and Mako hovering over him. "Morning," Iroh said, dropping his eyes. "Sorry, I woke you up."

"S'fine," Mako slurred, not quite awake enough to speak properly. “Not like we had anything planned for today, though we probably need to leave soon.”

Mako stretched up towards the top of the tent as he spoke. He didn't have a shirt on and Lu Ten was quite pleased with that fact, as he watched Mako's muscles roll with his stretches.

Iroh tapped him on the shoulder and mimed wiping drool off his mouth. Lu Ten reached up before realizing Iroh was messing with him.

Iroh laughed as Mako dropped his arms.

"What's funny?" Mako asked.

"Nothing," Iroh said, "I just tricked Lu Ten into doing something stupid."

Lu Ten huffed. "Whatever," he said. 

An idea occurred to him then, on how to get Iroh out of his funk. "Let's spar," Lu Ten said, rolling to his knees. "We've never really practiced with each other before. It could be fun. You two have gotten way better at bending, as Ro displayed the other day and I bet there are things you could teach me from the future about firebending."

Iroh seemed surprised but nodded in agreement.

"Sounds fun," Mako said, "but breakfast first."

He pulled on his mask but seemed to have forgotten his shirt, as he crawled out of the tent.

Lu Ten traded a look with Iroh.

“I need a shirt,” Mako said, returning, “and they need to stop staring at my scars.”

Mako pulled a long-sleeved tunic over his head. Iroh snorted and pulled himself out of his sleeping roll before putting on pants.

Lu Ten shook his head and slid on his mask, as he left the tent himself. He slept fully clothed and had no such issues leaving the tent abruptly.

Once the three of them had a small breakfast, not wanting to cramp up, they headed out to the riverside to train.

“So,” Iroh said, pulling off his shirt before wading into the water, “what first? Sparing or new firebending moves?”

Without his shirt on, Lu Ten could see a tattoo on Iroh’s upper back that didn’t exists last time he saw the man shirtless. “Um, let’s start with your tattoo,” Lu Ten said. “When did that happen?”

“Oh,” Iroh said, turning as if to look at the tattoo. He couldn’t actually see it, as it was between his shoulder blades. “I got it that night I disappeared off with June. It was her idea but I picked the design.”

Lu Ten moved closer to see the tattoo, Mako following him. It was a yin and yang symbol but with koi fish, circled by a dragon in an ouroboros style. It suited Iroh.  
“Is that supposed to be Tui, La and Agni?” Mako asked.

“Basically,” Iroh replied, splashing the two other men.

Lu Ten saw Iroh drop an inch into the water, and assumed Mako retaliated by sinking him into the ground.

Iroh who was still facing away from them, brought his hands together in a familiar move. The water divided around him. He moved his arms down, then to either side of himself, launching the water behind him. It was a firebending move, one of the few defensive firebending moves they had.

Mako went tumbling into the water, as the wave launched over him. It showed just how much control Iroh had gained over his element that Lu Ten was spared, despite standing directly next to Mako.

“I saw you do that yesterday,” Lu Ten said. “I didn’t know you could use other bending styles for different elements but you were firebending with water when you fought Zhao.”

“Yeah,” Iroh replied, turning around now that his feet had been freed. “My grandfather showed me some moves he translated to firebending from waterbending and airbending. Your father apparently taught him to do that.”

Lu Ten hummed. “He must have learned that after I,” Lu Ten paused, “died.”

“I used to imitate waterbenders when learning how to bend lightning,” Mako added, standing up from the water.

Iroh nodded, “Airbending does well for it too. Airbending is also where I stole my jet propulsion flying. It’s why it’s different from normal jet propulsion,” Iroh said. “I miss being able to fly.”

Lu Ten was looking at the two men incredulously. “What?” Lu Ten asked. “Okay, this is where we are starting. Teach me the lightning and flying things, please!”

They spent a good bit of time with Mako and Iroh teaching him different lightningbending moves, including the redirection move he had seen his father preform all those months ago. Iroh surprisingly stepped back and allowed Mako to teach most of the lightningbending stuff.

When Lu Ten questioned him on it, Iroh nodded towards Mako and said, “He’s the best at it. Trust me, Mako was insanely good at lightningbending. He saved the world with it.”

Lu Ten was slightly sad that he would never get to see his friends in action as firebenders, but he was also rather impressed with their quick grasp of their new elements. Iroh’s waterbending abilities had grown exponentially and Mako’s earthbending was unlike anything Lu Ten had seen before.

His friends were badasses.

They had eventually gained an audience. The tribesmen watching as Iroh worked Lu Ten through the few airbending moves he had translated to lightningbending. Lu Ten was sure they were slightly confused as to why the waterbender was teaching a firebender how to bend.

Hakoda was the one who finally asked about it.

“What are you three doing anyway?” Hakoda asked. “Why are you teaching each other?”

“Oh,” Iroh said, “Southern style waterbending is a blend of bending styles from all nations. Waterbenders picked up different bending moves from different elements as they journeyed south and they slowly developed into a different style. It’s why the bending style is so different from the North, because it’s not really waterbending, at all. When I told Lu Ten, he wanted to see what would translate to firebending.”

Lu Ten had always hated Iroh’s ability to lie without lying, but he supposed it had its uses when not directed at Lu Ten, himself.

Hakoda nodded and sat on the bank of the river. Dani and Bato joined him shortly after, while the rest of the tribe eventually dispersed.

Mako, eventually, tried to follow Iroh’s movements too. Not much from airbending transferred to earthbending, unless Mako’s intention was to kick up dust. Waterbending translated better, and watching the ground roll like a wave had been interesting, until a rock abruptly launched from the ground into Lu Ten’s chest.

Firebending, while not transferring as well as water, led to more interesting moves, particularly with the acrobatics. Earthbending was all about staying grounded to the earth and Mako took an interesting stance on that when he flipped and took the earth with him, only launching it away when he was up in the air facing Iroh.

Iroh sliced the rock in half, but Mako’s trick would definitely be useful in the future, as no one would be expecting it.

Then Mako introduced something new to them.

“So,” he said quietly, well aware of their audience, “I was digging around in my fake memories and there is this thing called dust-stepping. I haven’t tried it yet, but I wonder if that would translate.”

Lu Ten shrugged and gestured for Mako to show them. Lu Ten realized why it was something Mako suddenly recalled, because it worked similar to his flipping trick. Mako was basically standing on a thin layer of dirt, but several feet off the ground.

“Small bursts of jet propulsion might be the best translation for you,” Iroh said.

“And yourself?” Lu Ten asked.

Iroh smirked. “There’s already water in the air, I just have to grab it.”

They practiced that for the rest of the morning. Hakoda, Bato and Dani, had eventually disappeared from their spots on the bank. They decided to call it a day themselves, after Lu Ten’s stomach growled.

As Iroh struggled to get his shoe back on his foot, Mako tapped Lu Ten on the shoulder.

“I know, it looks bad, but let’s be honest,” Mako said, “we can’t do anything better. We should give him the necklace, today. I can’t stand sitting on it any longer.”  
Lu Ten bit his lip as he watched Iroh dust off the dirt on his pants.

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, turning to Mako. He was surprised to find Mako so close to him. Usually Lu Ten was the one invading Mako’s space, and not the other way around.  
“When do you,” Mako started, before flinching back at finding Lu Ten so close. “Dude, back up a bit!”

Lu Ten jerked back at that. He wasn’t sure why Mako was yelling at him, when Mako was the one who had moved that close to begin with. Lu Ten shook his confusion off as he stepped a bit away from Mako’s personal space.

“You two okay over there?” Iroh asked, his head titled as he looked between the two.

“We’re fine,” Lu Ten said, his statement coming out as more of a question.

“We’re fine,” Mako repeated, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Sorry, anyway when did you want to do it?”

“Do what?” Iroh asked, now apparently a part of this conversation.

“Uh,” Mako said, his eyes wide with panic.

“I suppose, now,” Lu Ten said, resigned. “Do you have a minute, Ro?”

“Don’t you want food?” Iroh asked.

Lu Ten’s stomach clinched. He wouldn’t be able to eat food until they settled this.

“In a bit,” Lu Ten replied. “We need to show you something first.”

Iroh shrugged and Lu Ten lead him and Mako a good distance away from the Water Tribe camp.

Lu Ten fiddled with the bag at his hip. He had been carrying the necklace in it since they first started making it.

That first day learning how to carve the odd circular moons, had been the worst. Lu Ten had originally assumed the moon pendants were rocks but after Valas walked them through craving them, he realized they were a type of bone. They ruined a fair few of the pendants that first day and the next couple days to follow, until they gave up, and accepted the last one they carved. Then came the actual piecing together of the necklace, that proved just as hard.

Lu Ten swallowed down his nerves as he turned to a confused Iroh.

“So,” Lu Ten started, “we have something for you, and it’s fine if you don’t want it. We won’t be offended we just,” Lu Ten paused, as he lost the words to explain his thoughts.

“We noticed,” Mako picked up, “that all of the men in the camp had necklaces and when we asked about them, Dani said that it was an important part of your culture, and we knew about certain types of necklaces.”

Iroh’s eyes went wide, and Lu Ten noticed Iroh take a slight step back.

Lu Ten may have panicked slightly at Iroh’s unease.

“Here,” Lu Ten said, awkwardly presenting the choker necklace to Iroh, and nearly hitting him in the face with it. Lu Ten could tell from the panic on Iroh’s face, that Iroh assumed it was a betrothal necklace.

“It’s not a betrothal necklace,” Lu Ten quickly reassured, “but Mako and I, well we’ve finally come to a decision on how to define our relationship to you. Don’t think we want to tie you down because of this, we know better and don’t care who else you have relationships with, this is just a way we want to express our ties to you, if you want, we would very much like it if you would be our platonic life partner?”

Lu Ten trailed off at the end, slightly confused with the proper terminology.

“Anyway,” Lu Ten said, shaking his head. “The pendent has a compass carved into it because we thought you might like that, since you know, you like traveling, and well compasses point you in the right direction, which is hopefully towards us.”

Lu Ten hoped Iroh liked it even though it was very obvious that neither Mako nor Lu Ten knew how to carve. It had been a lot harder than Lu Ten thought it would be.  
The compass lines were slightly squiggly. They had carved the symbols for the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, above and below the north and south, positions respectively. Lu Ten knows he accidently carved the Water Tribe symbols wrong, Dani had told him so, but it was too late to fix it by that point. The Northern Water Tribe’s symbol had a fourth swirl at the top while the Southern Water Tribe had three waves at the bottom, rather than the two it was supposed to have. The Fire Nation symbol to left of the west arrow was missing its inner swirl. Lu Ten hadn’t left enough room for it but figured it looked good enough far away.

The Earth Kingdom symbol was probably the worst of the drawings, Mako having drawn it after getting tired of Lu Ten screwing up the symbols, only to screw up himself. It sat below the compass’s east marker, as that arrow had been drawn too long for it to fit beside it, due to Mako’s hand slipping. 

In addition to its odd location, the image was missing its middle dashes towards the bottom and was more triangular, than the boxed off top it was supposed to have. Its inner swirl was poking through the right side of the triangle. Lu Ten probably should have continued carving the symbols, instead.

While the two of them were culturally aware enough to not draw the Air Temple symbols, even though Iroh technically had that heritage too, they did include the intercardinal directions as a nod to it. All of them were shorter than the cardinal directions, save for the southeastern one which nearly cut through the bottom of the Earth Kingdom symbol. The pendent had slipped from Lu Ten’s hand as he was carving and he had nearly sliced his finger.

Mako thought it looked empty around the edges and added random lines around the circumference, when Lu Ten hadn’t been around to stop him.

The pendent was flanked by two half-moons and two crescent moons. The full moon pendant in the middle, was attached to the top and bottom of a blue cord, rather than hanging from the middle. On the left and right sides, the pendent was attached to two thinner red cords. Then came the two half-moons, positioned on either side of the full moon pendent, they were attached to both the red cord, as well as an even thinner green cord. The quarter moons were attached in a similar manner to the green cord.

The three cords remained detached from one another until they reached the back of the necklace, to allow the necklace to be tied around a person’s neck. When tied, the three cords drew taut against the neck, at least when they had tested it, they had. It was an absolute nightmare trying to plan that out and implement it.

“Dani told us halfmoons and crescent moons were used to symbolize asexuality and aromantic, so we got the idea to use all three moon types to symbolize your identity and being in a platonic relationship. We were going to have the moons hang off each other, but then we realized it would hit you in the face every time you did a flip,” Mako rambled. 

“So,” Mako continued, “instead we did them side by side but that looked stupid so we added another half-moon and crescent moon to make it symmetrical, and more moon phase-y. We added a red and green cord because, well, we are all fire nation but then we had water and fire and Lu Ten said we should add green for earth, even though that only really applies to me and maybe we shouldn’t have.” Mako rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Iroh looked closer at the necklace. Lu Ten was still holding it in his face. Lu Ten counted it as a slight success that Iroh hadn’t run off, even if he was dead silent. 

Lu Ten knew it wasn’t the best-looking thing in the world. It was very obvious they split a full moon pendent in half for the half-moons, as one was slightly larger than the other. One of the crescent moons was also missing its point on one side, because Lu Ten had broken it when trying to attach it to the necklace.

Iroh seemed slightly spaced-out and hesitant as he looked closely at the necklace.

Lu Ten felt his heart drop.

“Oh man,” Mako said, “we screwed up. Iroh, we’re sorry, we can get rid of it.”

Lu Ten slowly pulled the necklace back from Iroh’s face. His arm dropping limply to his side. Lu Ten bit his lip hard. Hurting Iroh with this had been the last thing he wanted to do.

Iroh shook his head before surprising both Lu Ten and Mako, by launching himself at the other two men.

Lu Ten felt a pressure on his neck and realized Iroh was trying to drag him and Mako both down into a hug. Lu Ten didn’t even care that his back was bent at an odd angle, he was just so glad they hadn’t upset Iroh.

“No one has ever given me something like this,” Iroh muttered into Mako’s shoulder. “No one had ever even bothered asking me for something long term. None of my pervious partners wanted anything lasting, either because they eventually got tired of my resistance to marriage or because they didn’t like my open relationships. The fact that you two respect both of those things. I love you. I really do.”

Iroh pulled back from the hug and planted a kiss firmly on Mako’s lips. Mako’s eyebrows rose in surprise but before he could comment, Iroh was doing the same to Lu Ten.

Lu Ten felt Iroh smile against this mouth and couldn’t help but smile as well, when Iroh pulled back.

“No one’s ever really wanted me to stay before,” Iroh said, his voice breaking as he dragged them into another hug. “I was always either second best or someone to pass the time with, never anything serious to someone. Not even as a friend, not really, outside of my cousin. I don’t think you two understand how much I love your ugly necklace and everything it means.”

Lu Ten tried to pull back but Iroh pulled him in tighter. “It’s not ugly,” Lu Ten muttered into Iroh’s hair. “Is it?”

“It’s kind of ugly,” Mako replied. “It could have been worse though, I wanted to add a bell to it.”

Lu Ten sighed. “I stopped him from adding the bell,” Lu Ten assured.

Iroh laughed as he burrowed down further into Lu Ten’s shoulder.

Lu Ten couldn’t help but smile. Now if only he could sort out his mess with Mako, his life might actually start making some semblance of sense.

They returned to the camp to find Dani waiting for them at the tree line.

“Well, what do you know,” Dani said. “The two of you did finally get up the courage to ask. Are you okay, Rozin?”

“I’m great,” Iroh said, smiling. “I’ll be honest, when they first pulled out the necklace I was about to run, but I’m happy with it.”

Mako snorted. “We could tell,” he said. “You looked like a startled platypus-bear.”

“It’s nothing personal,” Iroh said, “I just don’t want to get married. That type of relationship, isn’t what I’m looking for in life and while I’m fine with certain types of commitment, that isn’t one of them.”

“We know,” Lu Ten said. “That’s why we weren’t going to force anything on you.”

“Wait,” Kik said, noticing Iroh’s necklace and coming over, “Wait, let me see!”

Kik leaned in close to Iroh’s neck, forcing Iroh to tilt his head back.

“Well,” Kik said, “at least they are hot, even if their necklace making skills are a mess.”

“Their hotness doesn’t really do it for me,” Iroh replied. “I’m just stuck with a wonky necklace and a commitment of forever from two idiots.”

“Oh,” Kik said, poking at one of the half-moons, “I got ya. My bad, didn’t realize.”

“Hey,” Lu Ten said, talking over Kik on accident, “we worked hard on that.”

“And I love it,” Iroh said, “but never carve anything ever again. Also, don’t worry Kik, I don’t really advertise it, or well I didn’t before now.”

Lu Ten huffed but he had to admit, even though he and Mako continued getting flack for their shoddy workmanship, seeing Iroh’s smile not fade even slightly throughout the rest of the day was worth it.

That night, after everything had settled down from the excitement of Iroh’s necklace, the three men laid out in the woods behind their tent, sans masks. They were all laid out on top of each other in a pile with Lu Ten on the bottom. Mako’s head was resting on his shoulder while Iroh was leaned against his side. Their masks, now permanently marked with Water Tribe symbols, were laid in the grass next to Mako.

Iroh’s hand was glowing as he held the water against his own face, trying to get the scar Zhao gave him, to go away. Lu Ten knew it wouldn’t heal further, it had already scarred over but Iroh was really determined to get it to go away for some reason.

“I thought you didn’t mind scars?” Mako asked, looking at Iroh.

“I don’t but I don’t really want a Zhao scar, sadly, it’s here to stay,” Iroh said, dropping his hand and the water with it. “Scars can sometimes heal after the fact, I was hoping this one would, it reminds me of my grandfather.”

“You know,” Mako said, staring up at the full moon, “I’ve never asked but I’ve been wondering where you learned first-aid from. Like I get the healing but you know a lot more than just healing, you know how to diagnose things too, even back when we first got here. Is that all spirit memories or what?”

“Military,” Iroh replied shortly, “The Fire Nation has a program that allows fifteen-year-olds and older to join the military in certain positions, like flag carrier or internal messenger. I was a medical assistant until I turned eighteen and could actually enlist. It let me jump a lot of positions. So, did being a prince but my mother wasn’t one to really play favorites like that, so I started as a Major, worked my way up quickly. When the position for General was open my mother offered me up for the position, even though I had only just made Colonel. The United Republic’s council tentatively agreed and I quickly proved myself in my first ever battle as General, in the First battle for Republic City.”

“That was your first battle?” Mako asked, incredulously.

“As a General, yeah,” Iroh answered. Iroh apparently picked up on Lu Ten’s confusion as he said, “It was the battle where Mako and I met for the first time. He wasn’t very nice.”

“Hey,” Mako objected, “forgive me for not being pleasant when the city was under attack!”

“Sure,” Iroh said, rolling his eyes, “as if that was why you were being rude and not because Korra and Asami were both paying attention to me. You were extremely passive aggressive and don’t think I didn’t notice how you kept squeezing between me and the girls, whenever I tried to talk to them.”

Mako huffed before saying, “I was an eighteen-year-old, repressed bisexual pretending to be straight at the time and General hotstuff here came in and left me all confused. Asami thought you were attractive, so did Korra. I could tell they did. You were extremely attractive, confusing me, and a threat all rolled into one.”

Lu Ten perked up slightly at that. Mako thought Iroh was attractive. Iroh and him looked enough alike that people thought they were siblings. Lu Ten hoped that meant Mako might find him attractive.

“I’m so sorry for making you question your sexual identity and adding extra tension on your already failing relationships,” Iroh said, sarcastically.

Mako narrowed his eyes and Lu Ten figured he better breakup whatever that shared memory was, before it started an actual argument.

“Oh,” Lu Ten said, “but your alter ego Rozin never made it past Captain. Why’d the spirits change that?”

“Nope,” Iroh replied. “Had to go home due to a family death. I assume to keep me low profile.”

Lu Ten nodded, his cheek rubbing against Mako’s hair.

“What’s the wildest thing that’s ever happened in your military career?” Mako asked. Lu Ten wasn’t sure where this curiosity was coming from but he was interested in Iroh’s answers, too.

“The Cannibals,” Iroh deadpanned.

Mako’s eyes were wide with horror. “The what?” he asked. Lu Ten was morbidly curious too.

“So, there I am,” Iroh said, “a cute innocent little seventeen-year-old medical assistant, helping out with the Navy. My dad’s with me, I couldn’t be safer, right? Wrong. We had gotten a worrying call from a base near Mount Makapu. There’s only one village on that island, or so everyone thought. Apparently, a while back a fortuneteller from the village had told someone they would find a leadership role in the wilds of the island, so they went out and created a village of cannibals in the woods. People started going missing form Makapu village, then from the military base there, so we got called in to investigate. I thought I was going to die.”

Iroh leaned back on Lu Ten as if seeking comfort. Lu Ten also noticed him rubbing the pendent on his necklace.

“My dad kept making jokes about how skinny I was, to keep them from trying to eat me, because they were very interested in eating me. Apparently eating youthful people helped them retain their own youth or something, I don’t know but I had nightmares for years after that. I still have nightmares about it,” Iroh muttered.

“Okay,” Mako said, “that was a lot and now I’m going to have nightmares, too.”

“Sorry,” Iroh said. “You asked.”

“And I regret it,” Mako said, cuddling closer to Lu Ten. Lu Ten’s chest clinched at the action. Mako had been both more affectionate yet distant lately and Lu Ten couldn’t make sense of it.

“Speaking of nightmares and traumatizing memories,” Iroh said, his topic transitioning skills as odd as ever, “I guess I should tell you what’s been bothering me lately.”

“You don’t have to,” Lu Ten said, not really reassured that a story about cannibalism somehow remined Iroh of his current issue.

“No, but I want to,” Iroh replied. “I know Mako knows about bloodbending, but it’s this ability waterbenders have, mostly on the full moon, but sometimes outside of it, that allows them to control a person’s body. Hama was the first known bloodbender, and in this timeline, Tamia learned it too. She taught Rozin and I may have stumbled over the memory. It’s been freaking me out.”

“Shit, Ro,” Mako said, pulling Iroh in closer.

Lu Ten didn’t really know how to reply to something so horrifying, particularly when Iroh started crying.

“I can feel the pulse of everyone in the camp right now, and it’s driving me crazy. I don’t want to be a bloodbender,” Iroh whispered. “Why did they make me a bloodbender?”

Lu Ten didn’t have a reply for that either, so instead he bundled up his friends and held them as tightly as he could. They all fell into a fitful sleep, outside their tent but for the first time in weeks, Lu Ten woke up with the sun, rather than Iroh’s nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, if I didn't catch my update mess up in time and confused anyone. I'm not off on Wednesday so here's the "Wednesday" update. I meant to mention it in my last chapter but forgot.
> 
> If you want to see Iroh's necklace or his tattoo, because I'm not the best a describing things, I drew it [ here. ](https://old-and-new-friends.tumblr.com/post/617863761990221824/art) You can find the necklace at the very bottom and the tattoo somewhere in the middle.
> 
> Anyway this is the last chapter of Iroh's little arc. There will be a big time jump for Mako's arc, that puts us close to the start of AtLA's book 1.
> 
> There is a short story that goes with this chapter and chapter 19 that I may post today or tomorrow afternoon, for anyone interested in those.


	22. Unsteady Ground - Mako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako makes some serious mistakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mako being an extreme ass.

Mako knew he was brooding as Lu Ten examined his hand, but he couldn’t really help it. They had been chased for several days by Earth Kingdom soldiers and had yet to figure out why.

His anger at the situation was in part, due to the odd dreams he was having. They would start out as typical nonsensical dreams, but then Mako would suddenly find himself underground in a cavern. A pretty, though plain faced, woman would be waiting for him. Sometimes she was brushing her hair, or staring at something out of view, but most of the time she was sitting patiently, doing nothing until Mako showed up.

Once Mako appeared, she would give him a sad smile. “Protect him,” she would say. “Protect your love in the way I couldn’t. He’s in danger, do not let them take him. Agni needs him, and so do you.”

Mako didn’t know what she was talking about, or he didn’t want to know what she was talking about. Her appearances coincided too well with the recent attacks, for him to not know she was talking about. She seemed to think Lu Ten was in danger.

Their last confrontation with the soldiers hadn’t gone well. Mako’s hand had nearly been crushed and Iroh couldn’t heal it because Iroh was knocked out on the ground, from where a rock had hit him in the temple. Lu Ten said he still had a pulse so Mako wasn’t panicking, yet.

The soldiers had retreated after Lu Ten nearly lit their mounts of fire. They weren’t usually prone to animal cruelty but desperate times, called for desperate measures and if it was them or the ostrich-horses, well Mako’s glad Lu Ten chose them.

“Can you feel that?” Lu Ten asked, poking at the ends of Mako’s fingers.

“Yeah,” Mako replied.

“Good,” Lu Ten said, his brow furrowing. “Um, can you bend your fingers?”

Mako bent his fingers and while his ring finger hurt to bend, he could still bend it all the way.

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, “your fingers aren’t broken, I don’t think. I’m going to be honest, I forgot what the other questions I’m supposed to ask are.”

Mako laughed. “We should probably brush up on that,” Mako replied. “The last thing we need is Ro to be down when we get majorly injured. I only vaguely remember how to tie to tourniquet.”

Lu Ten smiled and looked down at the ground. “That’s better than me, I can’t even remember what a tourniquet is,” Lu Ten said, with a laugh.

“Oh, man,” Mako joked, “we really are in rough shape. A tourniquet’s what you tie to cut off blood flow and stop someone from bleeding out.”

“Oh?” Lu Ten asked.

“Yeah,” Mako said. “Say if you were bleeding out here,” Mako paused to trace a line down Lu Ten’s forearm, “then you would need to tie a tourniquet here.” Mako ran his finger around Lu Ten’s bicep.

Lu Ten was looking at Mako with a soft expression on his face, one Mako had eventually figured out meant that Lu Ten was attracted to whatever Mako had just done. Over the past few months Mako had learned to hate that face.

It hurt to see it, because Mako knew he couldn’t return Lu Ten’s affections. At least, Mako wouldn’t let himself return Lu Ten’s affections. He had fallen in love with too many friends and ruined too many friendships to risk doing the same here. He just knew if he took Lu Ten up on his unspoken offer, he would mess it up.

Whether he hid the truth from Asami in a desperate attempt to keep the peace, or he told on Korra in an attempt to do his job properly and keep her from making a mistake, or he foolishly pined after Wu without ever making his own feelings clear, Mako knew where this road led. He didn’t want to walk it with Lu Ten. He didn’t think he could survive losing such a sweet and understanding, yet fiery and ferocious soul.

It didn’t help that Lu Ten was one of the sexist men, Mako had encountered in a long time. Everything about him, from his stupid beard to the fact that he was built like a tank, drove Mako’s hormones crazy. He had always known Lu Ten was attractive but now he couldn’t seem to ignore it anymore.

Mako was done playing stupid. The whole discovery about Zhao had opened his eyes. Mako knew he was jealous of Zhao, even if Lu Ten wasn’t even remotely interested in him. He wanted all of Lu Ten’s attention, Iroh being the only one he’d feel safe sharing it with.

When they had given Iroh his not-engagement necklace, clarity had shone through, and this time he couldn’t pretend he hadn’t picked up on it. Mako had been trying his hardest to subtly push Lu Ten away, ever since, in the hopes that they could eventually go back to just being friends.

Mako knew that was a pipedream though, as Lu Ten had slowly but surely come to mean more to Mako than even Korra. Mako wanted to spend the rest of his life with Lu Ten, but he knew the only way he would manage that was as a friend, the same way it would have been with Korra and Asami. He just hoped, as painful as it would be, that Lu Ten would eventually realize Mako was a mess and move on, without Mako screwing up their friendship. 

“Well,” Lu Ten said, dragging Mako from his thoughts. “I’m glad to know that now.”

Lu Ten pressed his thumb down in the middle of Mako’s hand and Mako’s ring finger twitched as pain flared through it. “Did that hurt?” Lu Ten asked.

“Little bit,” Mako replied.

Lu Ten hummed and grabbed a wrap from their first-aid kit. “I don’t think it’s broken,” Lu Ten said, as he started wrapping Mako’s hand. “It is probably sprained. Ro can fix it easy, when he wakes up.”

Lu Ten’s fingertips were brushing against Mako’s palm more than Mako thought necessary. Mako wasn’t sure if Lu Ten was doing it on purpose or not. Lu Ten’s pointer finger knuckle dragged across the center of Mako’s palm, as he looped it around one last time.

With the bandage binding in place, Mako wasted no time pulling his hand back from Lu Ten.

Mako ignored the bittersweet look on Lu Ten’s face as he stared at Mako’s hand. He refused to acknowledge it.

Mako had made a vow to himself before being dragged to this time, that he would cut out Korra, Asami and Wu from his life, as it was too painful to be surrounded by them as friends when he loved them as something more. With Lu Ten, Mako broke that vow. He couldn’t bring himself to cut him out, for multiple reasons, the least of which was the war. In all honesty the main reason Mako didn’t cut Lu Ten out of his life was because he didn’t want to.

Unlike with Korra, Asami and Wu, the sheer happiness he got from being around Lu Ten, far outweighed the pain that came with not being in a romantic relationship with him. Mako could make it in the world without Lu Ten, and even without Iroh, but he didn’t want to. Maybe it was selfish but he wanted the two men around him, in any way he could get them.

So, Mako made a new vow to himself, instead. He was never dating a friend again. It just didn’t work out for him.

“Nothing else hurts, does it?” Lu Ten asked. Leaning in towards Mako, even as Mako tried to move back himself. Lu Ten took the hint and gave Mako his space, but he was still looking at him with open concern. “You didn’t get hit on the head, did you? You seem kind of spacey and your eyes are slightly dilated. Is that adrenaline or do you have a concussion?”

“I’m fine,” Mako said, waving Lu Ten away.

“Alright,” Lu Ten said, hesitantly. He moved over to take another look at Iroh, occasionally glancing back at Mako when he thought Mako couldn’t see him do so.

Mako felt kind of stupid over the past year. Lu Ten, in hindsight, was really obvious with his affections. Mako wasn’t sure how long Lu Ten had been acting this way but he knew it had been at least slightly before they met the Southern Water Tribe.

Lu Ten was more hesitant with touching Mako, than he was with Iroh. While Lu Ten has no issue throwing his arm around Iroh’s shoulder or grabbing his hand to drag him somewhere, he always seemed to brace himself before doing the same to Mako. Mako had thought it was because Lu Ten wasn’t comfortable around him, not because he was his hiding affections.

This hesitance didn’t seem stop him from always invading Mako’s space. Mako couldn’t even begin to count the times he has turned around to find Lu Ten suddenly shoulder to shoulder with him.

He was also, always watching Mako. Mako had thought Lu Ten watched him too much before he discovered Lu Ten’s feelings, but now, Mako realized it was easier to count the hours Lu Ten wasn’t watching him. He was surprised he had never noticed before but, in all honesty, it wasn’t a threatening watching. It was more a fascinated and captivated audience type of watching. Apparently, it didn’t matter what Mako was doing, Lu Ten was interested.

Which was admittedly odd, as Mako had never really experienced someone finding him entertaining or fascinating. Most people, his ex-girlfriends included, found him boring. Mako wasn’t sure what had Lu Ten so enthralled, otherwise he would try to stop it.

Mako startled at a loud gasping noise. He turned to look at Iroh in surprise, not entirely sure why he had made that noise. Iroh was breathing deeply and looking around himself in confusion.

“Am I late?” Iroh asked, frantically.

“Late to what?” Lu Ten asked, giving Iroh an odd look. Iroh looked at Lu Ten blankly.

Mako had a horrible moment of fear where he worried Iroh got hit hard enough to have amnesia. Not only was that the last thing they needed, but losing Iroh like that would be heartbreaking.

Iroh blinked, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I woke up thinking I was late to a meeting with the President. Ignore me. I said nothing,” he explained.

Lu Ten looked at Iroh with bemusement and Mako lost it.

“Wow,” Mako said, through his laughter. “I guess we better get going guys, we have a meeting with the President to get to, in let’s see, seventy-six years. I don’t think we can make it. Might need to reschedule.”

“Shut up,” Iroh muttered playfully, dragging himself to his feet. Lu Ten laughed at Mako’s joke before trying to steady Iroh who was leaning to his left.

“Let’s go,” Iroh said, still leaning unsteadily left. “We don’t want those bastards to catch us here again.”

Mako traded a look with Lu Ten. He was glad to know he wasn’t the only one to think Iroh was being dumb by walking with what was surely a concussion.

“Um,” Lu Ten said, grabbing Iroh’s shoulder, “maybe we can sit here for a little while longer.”

They ended up staying the night in the clearing they had fought off the soldiers in. Mako had another of his strange dreams, this time the woman just watched him sadly, without saying a word.

The next morning found Iroh slightly more coordinated and able to heal Mako’s hand. They continued on their journey afterwards, taking care to cover their tracks.

It was chilly out, on the day of Mako’s twenty-eighth birthday, and Mako and Iroh weren’t even trying to hide how close they were walking to Lu Ten. Lu Ten seemed amused by it and threw his arms over the both of them. On one hand Mako loved how warm Lu Ten was, and in all honesty just being close to him, on the other it really wasn’t helping Mako with his distancing mission.

Why did Lu Ten have to be so adorably affectionate?

Mako scrambled around for a conversation starter, anything to distract him from the warmth sinking through his clothes.

Then his brain caught on something he couldn’t believe took him so long to realize. “Guys,” Mako said, Lu Ten’s warmth nearly completely forgotten with his realization, “is it immoral of a time traveler to steal someone else’s idea?”

Mako couldn’t see from around Lu Ten but something told him Iroh was looking at him oddly, he could sense Iroh’s head tilt from a mile off at this point.

“Probably,” Iroh replied. “Why?”

Mako shrugged his shoulder, jostling it against Lu Ten’s arm. “Just wondering if I could bring back pro-bending, we would make a really kickass team.”

“Could be fun,” Iroh said with a shrug.

Lu Ten started humming and Mako realized he was being rude by not explaining what he was talking about.

“So pro-bending was this sport, pretty high profile, that uses bending for entertainment. I know, I know ancient artform scared to our cultures, blah, blah blah, I’ve heard Tenzin say it enough. Anyway, it’s played on a hexagon field divided in half,” Mako bent down to grab a stick and stopped them to draw out a diagram for Lu Ten. “The hexagonal halves were then divided even further into three sections.”

Mako drew a small circle in the center of the hexagon with even half-moons on each side. Then he drew two more half-moon shapes on each side of the arena diagram facing the opposite way of the first half-moons.

“There are three rounds,” Mako explained, “and whoever wins the most rounds, wins the game. The goal is to gain as much territory as you can before the round ends, as that means you win. Another way to win is to knockout all of your opponents but that’s a bit harder to do. To gain territory you have to push you opponents back over zone lines, once pushed back a zone you can’t move forward again until your team gains territory. You can only move forward once the zone in front of you is cleared of your opponents, and you can only move forward one zone.”

“If there is a tie,” Mako said, looking up to see he had not only Lu Ten’s attention but also Iroh’s, “you flip a coin and the winner picks an element and those benders of each team fight it out.”

“So,” Mako continued, “each element had a limitation to it, you can’t use a continuous blast for fire or water. It has to be instantaneous. Water has to be liquid and you can’t have something in it. Only waterbenders can aim for the head and you can only access the water in your zone, the field lines being grates filled with water.”  
“Earthbenders can only use these earth disks in the arena,” Mako continued, “they can’t rock the ground or anything like that. Firebenders, aren’t restricted very much, just no continuous fire and no head strikes. Any form of specialized bending, lightening or metal or bloodbending and such, is prohibited.”

“Sounds like fun,” Lu Ten said, staring at the arena diagram with excitement. “I don’t care if it’s amoral to steal future peoples’ ideas, I want to pro-bend.”

Iroh laughed. “I’ve only ever seen one match before and my grandfather spent the entire time complaining about how the benders were using firebending,” Iroh said. “I’m kind of interested now that I know what’s going on.”

“It was great,” Mako said. “I loved doing it, even when it didn’t pay much. My brother and I grew up on the streets of Republic City and had to learn how to bend mostly on our own till we fell in with the Triads, a gang made up of all types of benders,” Mako said, to Lu Ten’s unasked question. “We only managed to get out of that situation when a pro-bender, Toza, took us in. I didn’t want Bolin to get mixed up in the mess like I almost did, so I took the man up on his offer and we ended up making a pro-bending team. Pro-bending was a good way to make money if you were any good but we were too new at it to make much until Asami, still it was fun.”

“I forget that about you,” Iroh said, softly. “That you grew up on the streets. Republic City can be really rough, kids shouldn’t have to navigate them on their own.”

“They shouldn’t,” Mako agreed, “but they did. The orphanages in Republic City were awful and, in many cases, didn’t care if a kid was on the street or not. If a kid didn’t want to stay put or didn’t bring themselves in, the orphanages just let them be. They didn’t have enough funding to take care of us anyway and more often than not, the kids on the streets were of all sorts of mixed heritages, something still slightly frowned upon even in Republic City, the supposed crossroads of the world. All that war child stigma stuck around.”

Lu Ten was watching Mako with fascination, again. Mako wasn’t sure why until he realized, this really was the first time he’s spoken about his own past with the other two men.

“My parents died, when I was really little,” Mako said, figuring he might as well share at least a little, after so many years of friendship. “My brother was too young to remember them. He always missed the idea of them but I knew them well enough to miss our actual parents. I used to always wear my dad’s scarf till I gave it to my grandma. It was the only thing I had of his, but it was still more than I had of my mother’s, unless you count my face. I look like my mom, and I kind of hate it, because I see her in the mirror a lot, but I also love it, because it was something that couldn’t be taken away from me.”

That wasn’t everything, Mako wasn’t sure he could talk about everything in his childhood. Iroh and Lu Ten were silent as they listened to Mako talk. When it was clear that was all the past information, they were getting out of him, Lu Ten placed a hand on Mako’s shoulder.

Mako couldn’t bring himself to shake it off.

“My mom died when I was a baby,” Lu Ten said, “so I obviously don’t know what you’ve going through, and I’m not going to insult you by pretending I do, but I get wanting to have something of theirs, or something they gave you. You guys may think I’m slightly stupid for carrying around a fire slug plushie but my mom made it for me before she died. It’s the only thing I got to keep of hers, otherwise, she was completely erased, from everything.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid,” Mako whispered. His voice too weak to speak any louder.

The moment was ruined by another attack from the Earth Kingdom soldiers, Mako wasn’t surprised in the least that they caught up with them again on his birthday, that was just how his luck ran.

A rock went flying towards Iroh’s head, again. Mako shattered it and sent the shards back the direction they came.

Iroh quickly launched out, slamming the lead solider off his mount to the ground and freezing him there.

That’s when Mako noticed that Lu Ten had quickly been surrounded, the other soldiers only peripherally aware of Mako and Iroh. So, the dream woman was right, Lu Ten had been their target this entire time. Mako had to wonder why. 

Lu Ten had lashed out with a fire-tunnel, something Iroh had taught him that mimicked airbending. It surprised the soldiers enough that they backed up. 

Mako took the opportunity of their shock and launched projectile pebbles at them. He had discovered overtime that earthbenders didn’t really see pebbles as a threat, but when moving fast enough, they could sink deeply into skin and sometime go straight through a person’s body. Mako liked making use of them.

Three soldiers fell off their mounts. One hit his head on a rock, and Mako’s pretty sure he may have just killed that one. The other two were gripping their arm or leg where the pebble had hit them.

Iroh water-whipped a soldier off his mount and flipped up and over to grab at another soldier’s neck. The man went limp and dropped to the ground.

Lu Ten was still trapped and as Mako made his way towards him, the ground slipped out from under him and Mako hit the dirt face first. His nose was bleeding but he knew it wasn’t broken. He’d broken his nose plenty of times before.

Lu Ten, as he always did when he lost his patience with a battle, started throwing lightning. The Earth Kingdom soldiers scattered as the lightning crackled around Lu Ten.

“Wow,” Iroh said, helping Mako to his feet and checking his nose. “So brave, so courageous, I feel so safe knowing those men are guarding the Earth Kingdom from Fire Nation attacks.”

Lu Ten laughed as he approached them.

“Mako are you okay?” Lu Ten asked, as he moved over to check on Mako. Mako was really starting to get tired of that question, or rather he was getting tired of the touches and the loving concern that came with it. He was tired of having to fight his feelings for Lu Ten, and Lu Ten just wouldn’t make it easy on him.

Mako had known this point was coming. He knew he was tail-spinning, but he didn’t know how to stop. He had felt himself getting more hostile in his deflections, over the past few weeks. Mako had reached the end of his rope, he just hadn’t expected it to be so bad.

“I’m fine,” Mako said, his teeth clinched. “Can you just stop fucking asking? You’re always hovering over me. Do you ever get tired of being right there, up my ass? Seriously Lu, back off. Do you even realize how annoying it is to turn around and find you always two inches from me? You’re acting like a fucking toddler following its mother around. Just back up! I’m tired of it!”

Mako regret everything the second he said it. Lu Ten opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it to bite his lip. Lu Ten looked down at the ground, but Mako was still able to see the hurt expression that splashed across his face.

Mako hated it. Mako hated himself for putting it there.

“Lu, I’m sorry,” Mako said, moving to reach out for Lu Ten.

For once, Lu Ten was the one to step back. Mako could hear him take in a shaky breath, and felt his heart shatter. He hadn’t meant to hurt Lu Ten, he had just wanted space. He had reached a breaking point on how much he could take, but he never wanted to take his issues out on Lu Ten.

“Mako?” Iroh questioned, incredulously, “What was that?”

“What was what?” Mako asked, knowing good and well that what he just said was an asshole move. He didn’t need Iroh to tell him.

“Mako, why would you say that?” Iroh asked, grabbing Mako and turning him around.

“What’s it matter,” Mako questioned, his anger at himself finding a new target in Iroh. “I said I was sorry, now get off my dick.”

Mako regretted saying that too. His ugliest defense mechanism was slamming down in place, as he felt backed into a corner by his own actions.

Iroh blanched at what Mako just said before frowning. He huffed, his nostrils flaring. “Maybe if I was on your dick, you wouldn’t be acting like this, you need to relax or something. I don’t know what’s been wrong with you for the past few weeks, or even months but you’ve been acting an ass. What you just said to Lu Ten was completely out of line.”

“I said I was sorry,” Mako yelled. “Okay, I didn’t mean it!”

Mako turned to Lu Ten who was looking back and forth between Mako and Iroh, the hurt that had previously been on his face, replaced by shock.

“I didn’t mean that,” Mako said, quieter. “I’m just, working through things in my head, and you poked me in the wrong spot. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Lu Ten said, softly, in a way that told Mako it wasn’t actually okay. Mako wanted to reach out and comfort Lu Ten, but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He had promised himself he wouldn’t.

Iroh scoffed, marching away from the two. “It’s fucking not,” Iroh muttered under his breath.

Mako ignored him, his attention fully on Lu Ten.

“I’m really, really sorry, Lu,” Mako said, stepping closer to Lu Ten. Lu Ten let him approach.

“I know,” Lu Ten whispered, “I just don’t know what I’ve done to make you mad.”

“Nothing, man,” Mako said. “Nothing, it’s me. I’m always screwing up like this. I just get stuck in my head and I push people away and I’m sorry.”

Lu Ten looked up at Mako. Mako could see the redness of his eyes, that told Mako he had, at some point when he wasn’t paying attention, made Lu Ten cry. Now, Mako really felt like shit.

“Lu,” Mako said, “I can’t take it back, I know I can’t but man, I really didn’t mean it. I wanted space yes, but you’re not annoying. You’re one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met and you care so much. I love having you around me, I just felt trapped for a second there and I lashed out. Please, Lu Ten, please know I didn’t mean that.”

Lu Ten looked Mako up and down and for a brief moment, Mako thought Lu Ten was going to tell him to fuck off. Mako would have deserved it.

Then Lu Ten stepped in closer to Mako and Mako thought Lu Ten was going to punch him. Mako would have deserved that too.

In the end, all Lu Ten did was pull him into a hug. Mako melted into his arms for the first time in nearly a year.

“You’re a mess,” Lu Ten said.

“I know,” Mako replied.

“Don’t you ever say something like that to me again,” Lu Ten said.

“I won’t,” Mako responded.

“I forgive you,” Lu Ten said.

“Thank you,” Mako said, his voice cracking at the end.

After that they kept moving, till they made it to the town they had originally been aiming for, for the past week. It was a town they frequented, and one where they knew a majority of people. The people of the town knew who they were, but kept it to themselves. It quickly became obvious in towns they frequented that when three men came into town, the same times the Sons of Agni did, that the two instances were related.

They didn’t even need to ask for a room at the local in, Runu and Sohan, the owners of the inn, were very aware of who they were and had a room in the back specifically reserved for when they were in town. It had three beds rather than the usual two. Their daughter, Tola, was slightly sweet on Mako, though Mako usually ignored it.

He was still keyed up from his argument with Iroh though and really wanting to forget about Lu Ten, so when she found out it was his birthday and asked him if he wanted a, special, birthday present, Mako didn’t say no.

“Hey,” he said walking up to Iroh and Lu Ten who were waiting for him in the front room. “Slight change of plans, I’m going to spend the rest of my birthday with Tola.”

“What?” Iroh said, his head tilted. Lu Ten frowned.

“My birthday’s already been shit after an attack, and quite frankly I’m still a bit peeved with Ro,” Mako said with a shrug. “I want to spend my birthday doing something fun without Ro, micromanaging me.”

“I’m not micromanaging you,” Iroh said, gearing up for another argument.

“Hey, you’re the one who said I needed to get laid! Well now I’m getting laid,” Mako said.

“I didn’t say,” Iroh started, “Okay maybe I implied it but don’t you want to spend your birthday with us?”

“No,” Mako said. “I just, I just need distance right now. I need space, call it my birthday present if you want but I need space.”

“Okay,” Lu Ten said, his voice rougher than usual. Mako had been avoiding his face during the conversation but looked over anyway when Lu Ten spoke. “Take your time.”

Mako felt like he had been punched in the gut. Lu Ten looked sincere but also hurt. Mako hated that he was the one who did that, but maybe after this Lu Ten would finally get that Mako wasn’t worth it, and they could be friends again.

“Thanks, see you tomorrow,” Mako said.

He ignored the glare Iroh sent his way, Iroh didn’t have the right to be mad at Mako for not wanting Lu Ten. A small voice in the back of his head told him, that wasn’t what Iroh was mad at him for. Mako was being an asshole about this, he knew he was.

Lu Ten hummed in reply as Mako walked off towards Tola’s room.

He regretted it. 

Lying in bed next to Tola the next morning, he regretted it. Sneaking out of her room, towards their own room, he saw the last person he wanted to see, posted outside the door.

“We need to talk,” Iroh said, his voice hard. “Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I have even mentioned this but there are going to be four books in this series. Anyway the first three books each follow a storyline focused on one of the guys and the final one focuses in on them as a full unit. Obviously, the stories deal with issues and triumphs for all of the guys, but each book leans heavier towards one over the other two. 
> 
> For Book 1: Community (aka Water) the focus is Iroh. Iroh is the one with arguably the most screen time in this book. Even when the book isn't in his PoV he tends to take up a fair bit of dialogue/action. It's Iroh who helps Lu Ten see the truth, who drives Mako up the wall, who joins the White Lotus, who's relationships are focused most heavily on, who drives a lot of the chapters, and who helps drive even these last three chapters.
> 
> For Book 2: Enduring (aka Earth) the focus is Mako. A lot of his story is set up here, in these last three chapters. From Oma speaking to him, to his relationship issues, which do come to play later, to his traumatic past that he's never actually gone into with either of his friends in detail, and still doesn't here. These things will pop up in the next story as a return to the lower ring of Ba Sing Se brings him, not only back to his family (in a very literal sense) but back to his roots of poverty as he tries to help Lu Ten and Iroh adjust to the living conditions of the lower ring.
> 
> For Book 3: Desire (aka Fire) the focus is Lu Ten and the culmination of the story of his birth family and his found family coming together, for better or worse. It's also very much a return to his roots and an exploration of the side of his country he hasn't seen before.
> 
> Book 4: Freedom (aka Air) is focused on all of them as they work as a unit to make a better future. One less prone to people trying to take over the world every Tuesday. It follows them from the end of book three, all the way to death...and beyond.
> 
> I just thought I'd give an outline of just where theses stories were going.
> 
> Also for anyone who's made it this far, Mako will eventually get his shit in some semblance of order before this book ends.


	23. Buried Deep - Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mako and Iroh talk through Mako's issues, while Lu Ten goes missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Implied abusive relationship (Not Mako/Lu Ten), Mako's relationship drama, attempted execution, kidnapping.

Iroh felt his jaw clinch as he watched Mako walk away. Mako and him butted heads a lot but Iroh had never been as pissed off at Mako as he was right now. 

He moved to follow Mako, but Lu Ten was suddenly in his path. Iroh knew Lu Ten, and Mako, both were taller than him. He also knew Lu Ten was bigger than him, way bigger. He was never more aware of that, than in this moment with Lu Ten leaning over him.

“Let it go,” Lu Ten demanded. Iroh flinched back. Lu Ten seemed to realize Iroh was uncomfortable, as he stepped away. Iroh had to pause and force down memories from a bad relationship he would rather forget. Mako and Lu Ten both seemed to want to drag up memories of Iroh’s that were better left buried.

“I won’t let it go,” Iroh said, re-establishing his ground as they walked towards their room. “He’s being an ass and he’s doing so on purpose, because he’s an emotionally constipated moron.”

As much as he hated recalling his last relationship, it had definitely taught him the most about establishing and holding firm to his boundaries and expectations. He wasn’t going to let something like that repeat itself, not with these two.

“Stop,” Lu Ten said, plopping down on his bed. “Mako’s an adult. If he wants to have sex with a woman, rather than deal with whatever issues he has with us, that’s his choice.”

“No,” Iroh stated, “It actually isn’t. Not sure if you and Mako understand this but platonic life partners, are still life partners, as in we work together to get through life, and right now, Mako’s not working with anyone. The rational adult thing to do in this situation is to talk to us, but Mako doesn’t know how words work, so instead he’s hiding.”

“That’s not fair,” Lu Ten said, pissing Iroh off with his adamant defense of Mako. “Mako isn’t as expressive as we are. He doesn’t talk through things to solve them. He needs space to mentally and physically work out his issues. The way he went about getting that space was hurtful and dumb, but that doesn’t change the fact that he needed it. I know you think I’m not mad at Mako too, but you’re wrong. I’m the one most of his hostility has been directed at, but until he figures out where his head is, arguing with him won’t do anything but make it worse and you know that. Mako doesn’t know how to sort his feelings easily. He’ll come back in the morning, guilt ridden and ready to talk.”

“That doesn’t make me less mad about how his behavior,” Iroh said.

“Then be mad about it,” Lu Ten said, finally turning to face Iroh, “but don’t throw around hurtful sentiments that can’t be taken back later. Mako’s already called me annoying. I don’t need you calling Mako an emotionally constipated moron. My father would tell me as a child, Lu Ten, if you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow. I’m angry, and I’m hurt, but I love Mako and I know he’s angry and hurt about something too. So, I’m being patient, because I know Mako and how he works.”

Iroh, while still mad and hurt, understood where Lu Ten was coming from. Iroh wasn’t going to put up with Mako’s attitude, and apparently neither was Lu Ten, but yelling about it while Mako wasn’t here to defend himself was only going to escalate the situation.

Iroh was lashing out, the same way Mako was, because he was hurt, and scared of a repeat from his last relationship. If he wouldn’t accept the behavior from Mako then he shouldn’t accept it from himself.

Iroh sighed and flopped down onto his own bed.

Iroh and Lu Ten laid in a tense silence for a while before Lu Ten turned on his side to face Iroh.

“Do you know what Mako said to me about a week ago?” Lu Ten asked.

“No,” Iroh replied, he didn’t really want to know what insensitive thing Mako said last week but he let Lu Ten continued. 

“He told me my eyebrows look feminine and remined him of Asami’s. I mean, maybe they are, but can you believe the audacity of him, with his own odd eyebrows, telling me mine are strange?” Lu Ten said.

Iroh agreed that Mako really had no room to be insulting anyone else’s eyebrows. 

Then he looked closer at Lu Ten’s face and realized, that Mako wasn’t wrong. Iroh didn’t think he would call them feminine, but they were thin and slightly delicate looking. They suited his face, though, much like Mako’s own oddly shaped eyebrows did.

“I wouldn’t say they were too feminine for your face but they are kind of delicate, I guess,” Iroh said, shrugging his shoulders. “They soften it.”

“I wish I had eyebrows like yours,” Lu Ten said, flopped onto his back. 

“I wish I had your beard,” Iroh said, in disbelief of this entire conversation, “but it’s really not that big a deal. You still look fine.”

“Mako’s eyebrows are kind of cute,” Lu Ten said, seemingly ignoring Iroh’s comment.

Iroh didn’t bother to respond to that. The next silence they fell into was more comfortable, at least that’s what Iroh thought at first. He felt slightly bad for not recognizing the eyebrow conversation for the distraction it was supposed to be, until it was too late.

At some point, the silence was filled with the sound of stifled sobs. Lu Ten had started crying softly to himself. Iroh debated going over to him, but from his body language, he wanted to be left alone. Iroh figured Lu Ten deserved a good cry after today.

Lu Ten eventually fell asleep and Iroh quickly stepped outside their room to take up post in the hallway. He needed to know what was up with Mako, regardless of Lu Ten’s stance on the matter, he'd let his behavior slide for way too long.

It didn't take long for Mako to appear, trying to sneak into their room in the earliest hours of the morning.

Mako stalled when he saw Iroh.

"We need to talk," Iroh said, standing up. "Now."

Mako looked like he would rather do anything else but nonetheless followed Iroh as he walked down the hall and out of the inn. 

Mako shuffled his feet as the two walked.

Iroh walked them to the center of the town and sat down along the edge of a fountain. No one was really wandering around this late at night which left them in relative privacy.

Mako hesitantly sat beside Iroh and Iroh felt his heart clinch. He hadn't, over these past few days and in all honesty weeks, meant to make Mako so timid of offending him. Whatever the root issue was, needed to be solved or all three of them were going to break apart at the seams.

Iroh reached back and untied his necklace. It was the first time he had taken it off outside of bathing. He let the warm, leather strings coil together in his hand before holding it out to Mako.

“Do you know what this is?” Iroh asked.

Mako gave him a suspicious look. “A necklace?” Mako replied.

“A promise, Mako,” Iroh corrected. “It’s a promise, one you and Lu Ten made to me. One I made back when I tied this necklace around my neck. Call it what you want, and maybe it isn’t a wedding vow, but the fact is this is a betrothal necklace. It's a commitment, even if there are no romantic or even sexual entanglements, even if it’s an open commitment, you two made me a promise. A promise to take care of one another, to stand by one another. Recently you've been pushing both Lu Ten and myself away. If you don't want this anymore tell me, because having someone who says they love me pushing me away hurts and I know you never really made the same commitment to Lu Ten, but it’s hurting him too. So, please, Mako, tell me what’s wrong.”

Mako bit his lip. His brow furrowed and he seemed conflicted, but he stayed quiet.

"You know," Iroh said, breaking the silence that settled over them, "you've been reminding me of someone these past few weeks."

Mako looked across at Iroh in confusion. Technically, he was reminding Iroh of two someones, but the less said about his last relationship the better.

"Yeah," Iroh said, tapping his fingers on the table, "this punk-ass eighteen-year-old I met once, who strung these two awesome women along because he couldn't figure out what he wanted."

Mako huffed and looked away but Iroh saw him flinch slightly and realized he hit right into the heart of the matter.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush," Iroh started. "Lu Ten loves you and I know you know it. I know you love him back. I can see it in the way you move around each other. I don't know why you don't want to get together with Lu Ten but I respect your autonomy enough to leave it alone but that was before you started being hostile."

"You're being intentionally hurtful, Mako and I'm not going to let you continue. You hurt Lu Ten today when you called him annoying and maybe he forgave you but to me, that was just another incident in a building pattern that needs to stop. You hurt us both when you decided you would rather spend the night with someone you barely knew, over the plans you had already made with us. I know you regret it too, otherwise I wouldn't have found you doing the walk of shame this morning."

Mako's head was down and he was digging his fingers into the stonework of the fountain.

Iroh reached out and grabbed his hands to stop him. Mako looked up and Iroh was surprised to see tears on his face.

"Mako," Iroh said softly, "talk to me please, what's going on?"

"I just want to go back," Mako said, his voice rough. "I want to go back to before Lu Ten fell in love with me, before I fell in love with him. I can't date another friend and have everything be ruined by it."

Iroh rubbed the back of Mako's hand before sliding closer to the other man. Iroh pulled Mako into his side as he realized Lu Ten was right, Mako was hurting, just as much as them.

"I really hate to tell you this, Mako," Iroh said gently, "but you're, kind of, already ruining everything. I don't mean to sound harsh when I say that but Lu Ten cried himself to sleep last night and I almost joined him. What you did with Tola was unfair to her, to Lu Ten, to me and to yourself. You had no business telling someone you know loves you in a sexual and romantic manner that you were going to have sex with someone else." 

"You were trying to make Lu Ten hate you. It didn't work. He's just extremely sad, but you did that on purpose and it made me angry. The only reason I'm still talking to you is because I know, this is one of your destructive self-preservation skills and I wanted to at least try to talk you through it before giving up," Iroh said. He pulled Mako in tighter as he felt Mako start shaking with silent sobs.

"I don't want to lose you two," Mako said, his words slightly distorted from his crying. "I just, I have dated so many of my friends in the past that I got scared and didn't want this to end the same. I guess I just made it worse in a different way."

Iroh held Mako as he continued to cry into his shoulder. Mako wasn’t a crier, as he constantly called Iroh and Lu Ten, so seeing him breakdown now told Iroh, Mako had needed to cry long before now.

When the tears finally subsided Iroh pushed Mako back till they could look one another in the eye.

"Work through this with me, Mako," Iroh said. "Don't shut Lu Ten and I out. Tell me about it."

"When I met Korra I thought she was annoying," Mako explained.

Iroh blinked slightly at that abrupt statement. He supposed Korra could be a bit much at times, like all the time, so that wasn't too surprising, it was just really random.

"Then Asami hit me with her scooter, and basically asked me out," Mako said.

Iroh tilted his head at Mako. She hit him with a motor vehicle and he went on a date with her. That didn't really scream high romance to Iroh, but what would he know.

"Then I got to know Korra and realized I liked her a lot," Mako continued. "Then Korra kissed me because apparently Pema told her to, and Bolin told Asami that I kissed Korra, and Asami got mad because I didn't tell her myself."

Iroh leaned back against the second tier of the fountain and rested his head in his hand as he watched Mako continue his explanation. He really regretted not walking the extra few yards to the bar, when he realized just how chaotic Mako's dating life was but knew, in the end, this was a conversation to have sober.

"Asami and I broke up but decided to remain friends, and Korra and I got together. Then the whole Water Tribe Civil War thing happened and Korra got tricked into the middle of it. I was investigating the embassy bombing and Korra was making a rash decision, so I told the President what she was planning and she broke up with me. She got amnesia and we got back together but when she remembered, we broke up again and agreed to remain friends."

"Yeah," Iroh said, grabbing Mako's arm. "I'm going to stop you there really quick to say what the fuck and also thank you."

Mako blinked at Iroh. "Thank you for what?" Mako asked.

"Look, as a General, I had the power to help Korra with what she was asking. In war times or impromptu battles, you can make decisions on your own and justify them later. Had President Raiko not shown up to order me otherwise, I would have helped Korra. In hindsight, I wouldn't have been able to explain my reason for being where I was, past the Avatar said to go there. That's not the type of leadership they want from a General and it would have looked bad on me, my mother and my country had I followed Korra's lead, so thanks. Sorry it cost you your relationship but it saved my career."

"Oh," Mako replied. "Uh, you're welcome? Where was I?"

"Korra and you agreed to remain friends," Iroh answered.

"Right," Mako said. "Anyway, the fact was, I was still in love with Korra and to a lesser extent Asami. I kind of hoped I would eventually get back together with Korra but then the Red Lotus thing happened and everything changed so much. When we meet back up, three years later, it was awkward. We eventually regained our stride but by the I had met Wu. He was extremely irritating at first but he grew on me and I realized I wanted to date him too. With Korra and Asami dating each other, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try with Wu but he was so flaky about the entire situation that we never really settled anything before I came here. I made a promise to myself the night Agni kidnapped us that I wouldn't keep people I wanted to but couldn’t date, around anymore."

"Then everything with Lu Ten happened and I realized, even if I couldn't date him, I still wanted to be around him. I couldn't stand the thought of not being around him, so I made a new promise that I wouldn't date my friends anymore. I tried to distance myself in the hopes he would move on, but I went too far."  
Iroh sat silently as he took in everything Mako told him.

"Mako," Iroh, finally, said, "let me know if I'm off track here but have you ever actually dated someone who was your friend first? It sounds to me like you weren't friends with Korra, Asami or Wu before you started liking them as a potential partner. If I'm reading this wrong, ignore me, but from what you said, it sounds like they only became your friends after they failed as a relationship or because you couldn't have a relationship with them for some reason. Dating a friend sounds like a completely different situation. You've known each other for four years and have spent nearly every second of those years together. I think if the two of you weren't going to work out, you would know it by now."

Iroh shook Mako's shoulder. "At least give it a thought and stop pushing us away," Iroh said. "I wouldn't be mad at you if you don't want to date Lu Ten, and Lu Ten, as much as he loves and wants you, respects you enough that he wouldn't be mad either, slightly upset, sure but mad at you, no. You don't have to date Lu Ten or remove your feelings for him, to remain friends with us. Lu Ten's been in love with you for three or so years now. He can handle you not loving him back, he's used to it. What he, and I, can't handle is your recent attitude.”

Mako bit his lip and nodded.

"Okay," he whispered, leaning into Iroh for comfort. "I'll think about it and I'm really sorry. I never meant for you or Lu Ten to feel like I didn’t care about your feelings."

"I know," Iroh said pulling Mako in close. "I forgive you and I love you, no matter what you eventually decide. I know that Lu Ten does too."

Mako sniffed and Iroh felt another tear hit the skin of his neck.

Iroh pet through Mako’s hair as Mako slowly calmed down. When Mako finally pulled away, Iroh realized his hair was a disaster and attempted to fix it.

“I’m not sure your hair is salvageable,” Iroh joked, in an attempt to cheer Mako up.

Mako snorted and wiped his eyes, but let Iroh have free reign over his hair.

“Ro,” Mako said, softly.

“Yeah,” Iroh said, trying to tame Mako’s hair with only his fingers to comb through it.

“There’s something else that’s been bothering me but I don’t know how to explain it,” Mako said.

“Is it something to do with Lu Ten or something else?” Iroh asked.

“No,” Mako said, “or sort of. I’ve been having odd dreams lately.”

“I don’t want to hear about your sex dreams, Mako,” Iroh said, quickly. Mako and Lu Ten both had a really odd tendency of oversharing whenever the topic of sex came up, but only ever when they were talking to him, as far as he could tell. They certainly weren’t talking to each other about it.

Mako laughed. “No, not those kinds of dreams,” Mako said. “These are actually really concerning, but they aren’t nightmares. I keep dreaming I’m in this cavern and this woman keeps telling me to protect the person I love, but I don’t know who she is. At first, I wrote them off but every time Lu Ten, or even you, have been in danger since the whole Zhao incident, they’ve come back. She just seems so, familiar. The thing I’m most concerned about was that in my latest dream, she told me to keep Lu Ten safe because Agni needed him.”

Iroh swallowed hard. That couldn’t possibly be good, particularly not with what happened to him a year and a half ago.

“Mako,” Iroh said, stopping his attempt to fix Mako’s hair, “do you remember what Agni told us when we were sent to this time?”

“Uh,” Mako said, “which part?”

Iroh sighed. “He asked us to save someone who turned out to be Lu Ten. He mentioned gaining another champion through our intervention. He also said we ourselves were champions of other spirits,” Iroh explained.

“Yeah,” Mako replied, “to stop the chance spirit but that was taken care of as soon as we showed up. Remember, Agni said we wouldn’t even need to really do anything. What does that have to do with my dream?”

“I’m beginning to think Agni meant we were champions for more than just stopping the chance spirit,” Iroh said. “I think he may have lied, or wasn’t entirely truthful, with his freewill speech either.”

“What do you mean?” Mako asked, staring at Iroh with concern.

“I had a similar experience to you recently,” Iroh explained. “When I went overboard off of Zhao’s ship, I was out cold, but I found myself by a koi pond where one of the fish told me to get up and protect the Water Tribe. Then I woke up, when I should have drowned. I think it was La, the ocean spirit, the one Agni said claimed me as a champion. That was the word he used, champion. If I’m right, then whoever this woman is in your dreams, might just be Oma, who apparently claimed you. Which means for whatever reason, Lu Ten was the champion Agni gained through us.”

“Iroh,” Mako said, hissing out Iroh’s full name, “do you even know how crazy that sounds?”

“I know it sounds odd, Mako,” Iroh said, not really wanting to even believe himself, “but what else could it be? A shared hallucination?”

“I’d rather it was,” Mako said. “The alternative can’t possibly be good. This is a mess. What would they even want from us?”

“I don’t know,” Iroh answered, “and I have a feeling we won’t find out until it’s too late.”

“Fix my hair, so we can leave,” Mako said, shaking off the conversation. Iroh didn’t want to think about it either.

Fixing Mako’s hair took more time than Iroh thought it would but he eventually worked it into a style that had shaggy bangs hanging down the sides of his face. Iroh’s grandfather used to wear his hair similarly in his earliest days as Fire Lord. Iroh hoped he kept it like that, is suited him.

After, Iroh and Mako headed back to their room before Lu Ten woke up to find them gone.

Iroh felt his stomach drop, when he and Mako tumbled through the door and realized there was no Lu Ten impatiently waiting for them. The room was empty and completely trashed.

Mako’s bed was charred and Lu Ten’s mattress had been flipped. Their stuff was scattered along the ground.

On Lu Ten’s bedside table rested his mask, the crescent moon slightly weathered in the center. Underneath it was a note.

_As ordered by General Fong of the Earth Kingdom Army, the Red Dragon of the Sons of Agni is to be executed at noon on the twenty-seventh day of the eleventh month, for conspiracy against the Earth Kingdom._

“What?” Iroh asked, re-reading the note. Mako walked up to him and read over his shoulder.

“That’s tomorrow,” Mako said, panic clear in his voice. “We need to go and get him! We need to track them and find him before, before –”

Mako trailed of and started hyperventilating.

“Hey, hey,” Iroh said, grabbing Mako’s face. “Breath, Mako, breath. I know where General Fong is, I know where his base is, okay? I know where they’ve taken Lu Ten, we have time, please just breath with me.”

Mako nodded and took in a deep breath.

“This is my fault,” Mako said, breathlessly, “if I had just gone out with you two last night, we would have been here with him.”

“No, it’s not, Mako,” Iroh said. “You didn’t know, neither did I when I left with you this morning. Panicking about it and blaming ourselves isn’t going to help Lu Ten. We need to leave now.”

Iroh looked around the destroyed room. “Okay we need to set this to some sort of order and then leave,” he corrected.

Something told him, between the destroyed furniture and Mako having sex with their daughter before ditching her, that they wouldn’t be welcomed back at this particular inn. With that in mind, he quickly gathered their things while Mako fixed the beds.

It took them a full day to get to General Fong’s base, which explained Lu Ten’s assassination time. The soldiers couldn’t have been more than a few hours ahead of Mako and Iroh, considering the time frame they had to kidnap Lu Ten.

They might have even been able to catch up with them on the road, had Mako not stopped to throw up an hour into the trip. Iroh had seen Mako a nervous wreck, but he was taking it to a new extreme, now that there was a huge possibility Lu Ten may be killed.

As horrible a thought as it was, Iroh really hoped this would be enough of a kick to get Mako and Lu Ten to sort out their issues.

They probably shouldn’t have paused to drop their things at an inn between the base and Omashu, either, but they had collected an assortment of things over the years too valuable to lose.

They reached the base with barely anytime to spare. The sun was hovering in the sky and Iroh cursed his inability to know its exact location. 

They raced towards the wall, trying to avoid the guard stations along it. Iroh stalled when they reached it, wondering how to get up there, when Mako surprised him by running full speed up the wall. His foot left indentions in the wall as he ran and Iroh, once he shook himself of his surprise, used them as foot and hand grips to follow, at a much slower pace.

He slammed into Mako's back as he vaulted over the edge of the wall. Mako stumbled forward, Iroh following him, before they slammed into the fort wall railing, on the other side. 

They looked down into the center of the fort just in time to make eye contact with Lu Ten who immediately sunk into the earth at the command of General Fong.

Iroh’s breath caught in his throat, just knowing the type of panic that would cause in Lu Ten, who was already terrified of being crushed by rocks. Being buried alive was a horrible way to go, and Iroh wasn’t going to let it happen to Lu Ten on his watch.

Iroh could feel Mako tense from where he was pressed to his back, an odd sense of unease was building around him.

"Protect him, Champion," Mako monotoned. "Save your love." 

It was Mako’s voice, but those words clearly weren't his. Mako sounded like he was echoing someone else. Iroh had a bad feeling that this was what Mako had been explaining to him back at the fountain. That wasn't Mako speaking, it was Oma.

This couldn’t be good, they had to save Lu Ten, now.

As soon as the uneasy feeling appeared, it dissipated, leaving a normal Mako standing in front of Iroh.

Iroh was about to ask Mako what they should do, when Mako launched himself over the wall’s edge. He landed in the middle of the base and the ground rippled and rolled out around him like water.

Iroh's jaw dropped. Even as a firebender, Mako had never really been one to show great displays of firebending, outside of the colossus, at least not as far as Iroh had seen, so watching the skillful, yet desperate display Mako unleashed on the base was a surprise.

The tiled coins on the floor lifted with the rippling ground and slammed into the walls and soldiers. Those still left standing tried to charge at Mako but the ground around them turned soft, and they slowly started sinking into the floor.

The walls cracked, an entire piece of the watch tower to Iroh’s left fell off. The floor shattered, the shards coming up to surround the place where Mako was standing and Lu Ten had disappeared under ground.

Mako was so focused on turning the base to rubble that he didn't seem to notice General Fong sneaking up behind him.

Iroh however did, and quickly joined Mako on the impromptu battlefield to stop him. Iroh lifted General Fong up in the air with a wave of water and froze him there.

"Mako," Iroh shouted, "get Lu Ten out of the ground, you can destroy the base later, we need to go!"

Mako jerked his head towards Iroh, and Iroh could see just how desperate Mako was. His eyes were wide open and his pupils were fully dilated.

"Mako," Iroh said, softly, "Lu Ten needs your help. Get him up here, he can’t breathe down there for long.”

Mako shook himself and nodded before pulling Lu Ten out of the ground.

Mako had wrapped himself around Lu Ten and was cradling him in his arms before Iroh could even blink.

He clinched his jaw as he watched Mako, rock back and forth with Lu Ten, who was looking around in bleary-eyed shock at the destruction of the fort.

Iroh was just as surprised at what Mako had done.

He turned to the remaining soldiers. “We are leaving,” he stated, putting as much power behind his General voice, as he could. “We are taking him with us and if we ever see any of you again, you’re dead.”

The soldiers didn’t argue, though General Fong struggled from his icy prison.

Mako helped Lu Ten to his feet, refusing to let go of the other for even a second.

Once the three of them cleared the doors of the fort, they ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to use General Fong for something, I just wasn't sure what. Then I realized if anyone would get a conspiracy in their head that Lu Ten was trying to hurt the Earth Kingdom by helping them just because he's Fire Nation, it would be the man who didn't hesitate to try and unleash the Avatar State on an entire country.
> 
> Iroh's previous relationship, will be later discussed more in book two but I also contemplated making a short story on Iroh's dating history if anyone would be interested in that.
> 
> I forgot to mention in the last chapter that these last three chapters are non-linear to tell the whole story.


	24. New Beginnings - Lu Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lu Ten gets kidnapped, a boyfriend, and good news all in the span of 72 hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Kidnapping, Panic Attacks, PTSD, bad mental state, execution attempt.

Lu Ten was rudely awakened from his sleep by a bag being placed over his head. His first instinct was to panic, recalling the last time a bag had been forced over his head. He couldn’t think straight, as his breaths started coming in short.

He had tried to kick out with flames but his chi-path was out of alignment with his panic, causing only a plume of smoke. Without the flames, all he did was kick out wildly, something that proved harmful as he felt something sharp sink into his leg and tear, not just the skin but the muscle too. His legs gave out at the pain, which was what allowed his attackers to get his hands and feet tied together.

He didn’t even think to scream, he was hyperventilating too much. He couldn’t get enough air in his lungs, so he wasn’t going to waste any by screaming.

He was dragged out of the hotel room and slung over the back of an ostrich-horse.

It was then, that Lu Ten realized what was happening in full. He was being kidnapped, again. He was in the hands of Earth Kingdom soldiers, again. Someone wanted to assassinate him, again. This time though, Mako and Iroh were nowhere in sight and Lu Ten may just actually die.

He thought they had lost these soldiers the day before, but apparently, they hadn’t. Lu Ten’s realization helped him none with his panic attack. If anything, it made it worse as his body jolted and twitched with no real control, while his nerves tried to figure out if he was under attack.

His body was very much under attack, but Lu Ten couldn’t stop to think long enough to figure a way out of this situation. Regardless of the fact that he was currently bent over the back of the ostrich-horse, Lu Ten still felt like rocks were crushing down on top of him.

He was scared.

Surrounded by enemies, and with no clue where his friends were, Lu Ten could admit, he was scared.

Lu Ten wasn’t sure how long they travel for before they plopped him down on the ground, but it had to have been close to a day.

The hood was finally removed from his head, and Lu Ten blinked rapidly, trying to take in his surroundings.

He immediately looked up into the face of a middle-aged, Earth Kingdom General.

“Finally,” the General said, “the elusive Red Dragon. Welcome to my base, I’m General Fong of the Earth Kingdom army, and you are charged with conspiracy against the Earth Kingdom.”

Lu Ten squinted up at the General. How could Lu Ten be charged with conspiracy against the Earth Kingdom when he was helping them?

General Fong continued on, his monologue was droning, boring, and hard to keep track of with the amount of pain Lu Ten was in. He had a serious moment of vertigo when he looked down at his leg and realized an entire chunk of it had been ripped off. It didn’t look to good and was no doubt infected.

Occasionally, General Fong said something that penetrated the fog of pain and had Lu Ten sitting up at attention, such as when he said, “You cannot expect me to believe a son of the Fire Nation, to actually have the best interests of the Earth Kingdom at heart. You and the rest of your Nation have nothing to offer the Earth Kingdom, not after all the pain and suffering you’ve caused. Your people are cursed and deranged. You may think yourself a hero but in reality, you’re still a monster inside. You were born like that. It’s ingrained in Fire Nation blood.”

Lu Ten didn’t want to believe him but the words coming out of his mouth, were words Lu Ten sometimes thought to himself in the darkness of the night. He couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he was right.

“Now, the payment for your crimes against the Earth Kingdom will be death,” General Fong said. Lu Ten braced himself thinking that was the end of the speech but no, General Fong continued talking, this time about his own diligence, capturing such a vile foe as the Red Dragon.

Lu Ten saw movement out of the corner of his eyes, and instinctively turned his head towards it. Mako and Iroh were leaning against the railing of the base’s wall, out of the soldiers’ line of sight. Lu Ten breathed a sigh of relief but it was short lived as General Fong’s monologue to his men ended.

Lu Ten felt the earth drop out from under his knees. One second, he was above ground where there was air, the next he was in the dark, underground.

Lu Ten couldn’t breathe. He physically couldn’t breathe. He didn’t have enough room to expand his chest, or maybe he did, but he still couldn’t breathe.

He was going to die, buried alive upright, all because he thought he could help the Earth Kingdom, and have that make up for the horrors he and his family committed against them. These soldiers didn’t even know who he was, but they did know, that no one of Fire Nation decent would ever be able to make it up to the world for what they’ve done.

Lu Ten didn’t know why he had tried to fool himself into thinking otherwise.

He closed his eyes, resigned to what fate apparently wanted for him, just in time to be yanked back out of the earth and pulled into someone’s arms.

Mako, it was Mako. It was beautiful, caring, and dumb, Mako, who had dragged him back out of the ground and was now holding him tightly to his chest. Lu Ten opened his eyes, and blinked against the light.

Lu Ten’s eyes went wide as he took in the surrounding base. He had no clue what had happened to it but it looked torn to shreds with the walls shattered here and there. The coin tiles that were once laid in the floor, had been lifted and thrown into the walls, the soldiers, and the buildings. Several soldiers were sunk halfway into the now sandy ground, some were still sinking. He shivered, completely understanding their panic.

General Fong was frozen high in the air, by ice covering his entire body. Iroh stood between Mako and Lu Ten, and the remaining soldiers.

“We are leaving,” Iroh stated. His voice left no room for argument. “We are taking him with us and if we ever see any of you again, you’re dead.”

The soldiers took one look at their destroyed base, their down comrades, and their frozen General, before stepping aside and allowing free range to the exit.

Mako wasted no time helping Lu Ten to his feet.

They ran. It didn’t matter that General Fong’s soldiers seemed content to let them leave, rather than make them fight their way out, they ran as quickly as they could, as far as they could before they physically couldn’t anymore.

Lu Ten was the first to give or rather his injured leg was. He collapsed on the ground, as he failed to get air in his lungs. He was still shaking. He would have nightmares of sinking into the ground forever, on top of the ones he already had about being crushed under rocks.

Lu Ten had a slightly hysterical realization that fate must hate him. He was terrified of the earth but in love with an earthbender. He must have really pissed fate off at some point, probably when he helped his father break down Ba Sing Se’s wall.

He felt a hand rubbing up and down his back slowly and another hand pet through is hair. Lu Ten was a bit too out of it, to figure out if it was the same person using both hands or if both of his friends were touching him.

He took in several deep gulps of air, his dry throat protesting at air hitting the back of it. He couldn’t stop the tremors in his arms and felt them finally give out on him. His face hit the dirt and Lu Ten screamed.

He wasn’t even sure why he screamed. If it was just to let out his frustrations, or because now he finally could where before he couldn’t, or because it was the only thing he could do, Lu Ten didn’t know. He just screamed.

If he thought his throat was protesting at breathing, it really didn’t like him screaming.

He heard a shushing noise by his head but gave it no mind as his screams subsided into hysterical sobs. Lu Ten couldn’t feel anything, his entire body, overloaded with sensation, just shut down as the world went dark.

He woke up off and on as his friends traveled in what Lu Ten thought was the direction of Omashu. Mako was carrying him on his back.

Lu Ten’s foggy brain couldn’t process some of the things going on during the journey, but he distinctly recalled burying his face in Mako’s hair which smelled like sweat and salt, the death grip Mako had on Lu Ten’s hands the whole time he carried him, being traded off to ride on Iroh’s back and Iroh humming ‘Leaves from the Vine’ softly under his breath as he walked.

Lu Ten didn’t fully wake up until the next morning. They had apparently checked into an inn the night before and crashed on one of the double beds, despite there being two in the room. Mako and Iroh were curled up on either side of him, with Flameo tucked under his arm.

Lu Ten didn’t have any energy left to panic about the day before and just laid there, running his hand absentmindedly through Mako’s hair, and staring off into space.  
A hand laid over the top of his and Lu Ten looked down to see Mako staring up at him, their hand’s tangled in Mako’s hair.

“Hey,” Mako whispered. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Lu Ten said, honestly. “I’m kind of wondering what I’m doing here.”

“We stopped for the night,” Mako said. “We had an idea of going north-east towards the city of Omashu-”

“No,” Lu Ten interrupted. “I just, what General Fong said, about me, as someone who is Fire Nation, never being able to truly help the Earth Kingdom. If that’s true. If that’s how the Earth Kingdom feels about me, or someone like me, then what am I doing here? What’s the point of the past few years? I thought I was doing right, I don’t,” Lu Ten trailed off, unable to speak past his tears.

“No, Lu,” Mako said, pulling Lu Ten in closer. Lu Ten buried his face in to Mako’s shoulder. “General Fong was wrong. What he just did wasn’t reasonable. You help the Earth Kingdom every day, and the people of the Earth Kingdom love you. Who are you going to believe? The mad General tucked away in a fort far from the people suffering, or the people suffering who look to you for help all the time.”

“Would they still want my help if they knew who I was?” Lu Ten questioned, harshly.

“Yes,” came the reply to his back. Lu Ten turned over to see Iroh, also now awake, staring at him. “Maybe some of them would hate you, like Fong does. My grandfather experienced something similar after helping an Earth Kingdom town, but most of them? They’d be grateful for the help, and in all honesty, most of the middle Earth Kingdom already knows the three of us are of Fire Nation decent, anyway. Fong’s insane, my Great Uncle Sokka, once told me a story of how he tried to force my grandfather, Avatar Aang, into the Avatar State in order to use it as a weapon against the Fire Nation. It worked out for him about as well as what just happened did. They trashed the place and knocked him out. I wouldn’t take what he says to heart.”

Lu Ten nodded, not entirely sure if he believed Iroh and Mako, but willing to let it slide for now. He hugged Flameo tighter to his body as he laid down between the other two men.

“So,” Mako said. “Ro and I were thinking, that we need a serious vacation, and there are a lot of cheap but very nice spas and resorts in Omashu. I’m not sure why, that city really is a city of hedonism. If you wanted, that was where the two of us were planning to head today, we could go there.”

Lu Ten stared up at the celling. “A spa sounds really, really nice,” Lu Ten said. He knew his voice came out strained but the idea of a relaxing trip to a spa, had Lu Ten near tears again.

“Then that’s where we will go,” Mako said. Lu Ten saw Iroh nod in agreement out of the corner of his eye.

None of them bother to move though, seemingly content to lay next to each other for a bit.

“Lu Ten,” Mako said, softly.

“Yes,” Lu Ten said, turning his head to look at Mako.

Mako’s face was closer than expected and Lu Ten’s stomach clinched as he waited for Mako to freak out about it. Mako didn’t, instead he just looked Lu Ten in the eyes, a serious expression crossing his face.

“I’m sorry,” Mako finally said, “for everything I have done these past few months. I can’t even begin to explain how much I hate having hurt you. I don’t quite have everything sorted in my head but I have enough figured out to know I’ve handled my issues in the worst possible way I could. I’m going to be completely honest with you, I miss my brother terribly but after yesterday, I know that I would never trade what I’ve gained here with the two of you for anything. I’m sorry if I made you feel like I didn’t care, because I do.”

Lu Ten felt his heart swoop in his chest. Mako may not love him the way he loved Mako, but just knowing Mako cared and wasn’t mad at him made Lu Ten feel better.  
“I know you care,” Lu Ten said. He hadn’t been this close to Mako’s face in years. The light flecks of green within Mako’s oddly orange eyes, that Lu Ten had originally fell in love with all those years ago, were prominent in the morning light.

Lu Ten had never wanted to kiss Mako more in the past few years than he did now, but he held himself back. “I’m glad you’ve sorted yourself out,” he said instead. “I was worried about you.”

Mako opened his mouth, most likely to apologize again, when a pillow slammed down on his face.

“Stop apologizing,” Iroh said, pulling his pillow back to his side of the bed. “We get it, please stop beating yourself up about it. Just don’t do it again and we can consider it forgotten.”

Lu Ten laughed at the stunned look on Mako’s face.

“What he said,” Lu Ten agreed, picking up his own pillow to slam it down on Mako’s face, too.

“Stop that,” Mako said, grabbing the pillow from Lu Ten and chucking it at Iroh.

That was a mistake. Never let it be said that, grown men in their twenties won’t succumb to the childish urge to beat each other to death with pillows, because they did.

The fun came to an abrupt end when Mako’s pillow burst, throwing feathers everywhere. They quickly decided to check out of that inn and make their way to Omashu after that, in the hopes they could get far enough away before the owners found the destroyed pillow.

They had never actually entered Omashu before, though they had, on several occasions wandered past the city.

The long passageway leading up the city had Lu Ten extremely nervous and clinging onto Mako’s arm for dear life.

Lu Ten supposed it was evidence for the new leaf Mako was apparently turning over that he didn’t push Lu Ten away, as he would have not even three days ago.  
The men at the gate eyed them funny at first but when Iroh told them they were just looking to explore the spa scene of the city, the men laughed and let them through the gate.

“So,” Iroh said, as the gate closed behind them, “My grandfather, Aang, apparently once got arrested for riding the mail carts here.”

“We aren’t here to get arrested, Ro,” Mako said.

Iroh pouted. “I forget you used to be a cop,” Iroh said, walking off towards the upper part of the city.

Mako rolled his eyes and followed. Lu Ten had to wonder if Mako even realized he was still holding Lu Ten’s hand, even though Lu Ten himself had already let go.

“Omashu, in our time is known as the City of Love and Heartbreak,” Iroh said.

“Mostly,” Mako continued, “because it’s known for drinking and partying and those two things lead to a lot of wild decisions. They had to make it illegal to marry without proof of sobriety, because too many people were getting married drunk.”

“Regardless of their party hard status,” Iroh clarified, “they are actually the biggest economic power aside from Ba Sing Se, even counting Republic City in our time. Not really sure what they were selling but whatever it was it worked for them. They seem to do well for themselves even with their more laid-back attitude.”

“They have some of the strangest laws ever though,” Mako said. “It’s illegal to eat lettuce on Saturdays.”

Lu Ten decided to take their word for it as they finally checked into a spa. It was surprisingly cheap but having plopped down on the bed, a bed big enough for five people at least, he had to admit it was nice.

It was a while later, with night having fully fallen, that Lu Ten was sat on the dock of the pond out behind the resort. He planned to try the hot springs tomorrow, and maybe see what those sunrise massages were about if he could pull himself out of that nice, soft bed for it.

For now, he was watching Iroh splash around in the pond. Iroh was more interested in actually swimming than practicing his waterbending. Even as a firebender, Lu Ten thought the water too cold but Iroh seemed content with it.

Lu Ten heard footsteps coming towards him and was surprised to find Mako standing next to him on the dock, he had assumed Mako had gone to bed.

"Hey," Mako said, sitting down beside Lu Ten. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Always," Lu Ten replied, wondering what was bothering Mako.

Mako paused, staring out into the distance vacantly, something he often did when trying to gather his words.

"I know I said this morning that I had somethings sorted but a few things were still confusing me. I’ve been really confused lately, like since all that business with Zhao, and Iroh helped me sort some things out. I think I finally sorted the rest out myself," Mako started.

He paused again, his focus now on Iroh doing backstrokes in the water. Lu Ten had gotten better at noticing Mako's distancing strategies, now that he knew they were there.

"When I met Korra," Mako said, hesitantly, "I didn't like her, at all. She was brash and loud and somewhere she really shouldn't have been."

Lu Ten wasn't sure where this was going, and while usually any mention of Korra was enough to make his heart beat painfully in his chest, he could tell whatever was going on was important to Mako.

"Then I met Asami, and immediately wanted to date her. She was sweet," Mako said. "I messed up a lot in that relationship, mostly because, as I got to know Korra, I realized I really liked her. I broke up with Asami and got together with Korra, then Korra and I broke up. We remained friends but, in all honesty, I was never really friends with either of them. I only ever wanted to date them, but the friends label was the only thing I was getting from either of them after we called it off and I thought at the time, I would be okay with that."

Mako smiled a bitter smile at Lu Ten. "I wasn't," he continued. "Not really. Then there was Wu, and when I say I could not stand that man for three years, I mean it. He grew on me after events caused him to smarten up or get trampled by life. Then I wanted to date him. We never really worked that out before I came here."

Lu Ten was really trying to be patient with Mako here but listening to Mako's dating history was killing his heart slowly.

"Anyway," Mako said, "I always thought my issue with dating was that I kept dating my friends, and a while ago, I vowed to never date a friend again. It was just too much heartache to bother with."

Lu Ten didn't want to be a part of this conversation anymore. He didn't think he could handle the rejection that was coming next. He thought he had been subtle about his feelings but apparently not and now Mako was trying to politely shut him down. Lu Ten wished Mako would just do it quickly and stop beating around the bush. He wanted to cry but for once he wasn't going to let Mako see his tears, at least not these tears.

"Iroh and I had a really important talk," Makos said, "before, or I suppose while, you were being kidnapped."

If Iroh told Mako what Lu Ten thought he told Mako, then Iroh was a dead man.

"I realized my issue was never that I was dating my friends. It was always that I was turning those I dated into my friends. When your friend group consists of two of your ex's, the guy you wish would date you, your brother, his girlfriend and your boss well, it's not good, let’s just put it that way."

Mako took a deep breath and Lu Ten braced himself for the rejection about to come.

"I guess that's why," Mako said, "when I met you and hated you, only for you to become one of my best friends, that I panicked when I realized I liked you more than that, a lot more than that. I thought I knew where that path went and I didn't want to walk it again but everything with you felt different than any of my previous relationships, so I ended up confusing myself. It took having sex with the wrong person, not that there was anything wrong with Tola, and a talk with Iroh about getting my shit together, to realize I was being stupid. Then we almost lost you and I can’t even begin to explain how much the idea of losing you like that killed me inside. My point is, even if this ruins everything, I just couldn't stand for you to not know."

Lu Ten couldn't breath as Mako reached down to grab his hand. "I'm in love with you," Mako said.

Lu Ten's brain stopped thinking as his heart was thrown into complete chaos at Mako's confession. Mako was starting to look concerned and upset but Lu Ten couldn't move.

Finally, when Mako let go of his hand and moved to stand up, Lu Ten jerked forward and kissed him.

It was a simple peck on the lips, it being Lu Ten's first kiss, outside of the platonic one Iroh gave him. He didn't want to go too overboard and ruin it. He heard a splash in the water and turned to see Iroh had disappeared under the surface.

Lu Ten turned back to Mako to find him inches from his face. "How long can he hold his breath again?" Mako asked.

"Ten minutes," Lu Ten replied, "why?"

"Just curious," Mako said, before pulling Lu Ten down into another kiss.

This one was deeper and longer. It was followed by another, and another. As Mako continued to kiss him over and over again, Lu Ten thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He had loved, and wanted this man for so long. To finally have Mako love him back, to have the affection from Mako he had been dreaming of for years, made Lu Ten feel euphoric.

Mako licked along his bottom lip, until Lu Ten got the picture and opened his mouth. At the same time, Mako had pushed at Lu Ten till he was laid out with his back on the dock and Mako hovering over him.

Lu Ten felt giddy and slightly crazed as he looked up at Mako.

“I love you so much,” Lu Ten said. He could feel tears running down the sides of his face and into his hairline. Mako had an exasperated, yet fond look on his face as he reached down to wipe away his tears.

“Always crying,” Mako said, leaning down for another kiss.

“Can’t help it,” Lu Ten pouted. “I’ve wanted this for years.”

Mako grimaced. “Sorry I took so long to get my shit together,” Mako said.

Lu Ten shook his head and said, “I’m just glad we’re here now.”

Mako smiled and kissed him again.

Lu Ten heard the sound of water moving but ignored it in favor of kissing Mako back.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” he heard Iroh say. “How do you even kiss someone that long?”

Mako laughed into Lu Ten’s mouth as Iroh could be heard ducking back into the water.

Lu Ten laughed too, but was cut off by Mako peppering kisses across his face. Mako ended his kissing attack with another kiss on Lu Ten’s lips.

That was when Lu Ten felt something press up against his leg.

“Want to take this somewhere else before we give Ro, a real show?” Mako asked, whispering the question into Lu Ten’s ear and sending shivers down his spine.

The thing was Lu Ten really, really wanted to have sex with Mako, but he was also really nervous about it.

When Mako leaned up to look down at him Lu Ten put his hand up. Mako’s brow furrowed and he seemed to be searching Lu Ten’s face for something.

“What’s up?” Mako asked, grabbing ahold of Lu Ten’s hand on his chest and squeezing it.

“I, um,” Lu Ten muttered. “I’ve never really had sex before other than a blowjob once from a visiting nobleman’s daughter, when I was a teenager, that made me realize I really don’t like women. In fact, that was my first kiss. I want to, believe me but I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Oh,” Mako said, his face going red. “Um, that might be a problem.”

Lu Ten’s stomach clinched and he wished he had just kept his mouth shut. Surely, Mako wasn’t going to reject him because he’d never had sex before.

Before Lu Ten could freak out too much Mako continued, “I’ve never had sex with a man before. I know some vague things about it from growing up on the streets but I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. I was hoping you would know what to do. I guess, we will just have to wing it and hope we get it right?”

Lu Ten calmed down slightly at that. Mako didn’t know what he was doing either, they could figure it out together. Then he realized that might be a problem as Mako said, because if Mako didn’t know how to have sex, and Lu Ten didn’t know how to have sex, then how were they going to work out how to have sex without screwing it up? Lu Ten couldn’t even think of where to start.

"Are you two even serious right now?" Iroh asked, making Lu Ten and Mako jump.

"A bell, Ro," Mako said. "A big, loud, jingle bell."

"Have you been listening this whole time?" Lu Ten asked, slightly embarrassed.

“Basically,” Iroh said. “Can I leave while you two pause and figure out how gay sex works?” 

“Ro,” Lu Ten asked, paying no attention to the unamused face Iroh was making, “do you know how gay sex works?”

Iroh closed his eyes. “Yes,” he said, drawing the word out into a hesitant question.

“Can you help us?” Mako begged.

Iroh groaned. “Do you two have any clue how odd that question is? Why are you both always coming to me with odd sexual questions?” Iroh asked, before shaking his head. “Fine, sure, but not tonight. Later, when you two are both ready and not keyed up on love hormones and near-death experiences. For now, let’s go to bed.”

Lu Ten didn’t argue and as he curled up between Iroh and Mako he couldn’t help but laugh.

“I don’t know, if it was what General Fong said or what, but it just occurred to me that had you told me four years ago that I would one day be best friends with a waterbender and in love with an earthbender, I would have checked you into a mental hospital.” Lu Ten said.

Mako snorted but Iroh jolted off the bed.

“Four years?” Iroh asked. “It’s been four years, no way.”

“Yes?” Lu Ten asked, slightly startled at that response.

“It’s the eleventh month too,” Iroh said, “What day is it?”

“The twenty-ninth?” Mako asked, clearly as confused as Lu Ten.

Iroh launched up from the bed to get the calendar he had in his bag. He started counting off the days before looking up with a blank look on his face.

“Aang’s awake, the Avatar’s returned,” Iroh whispered.

The words sent chills down Lu Ten’s spine. He hoped the Avatar was up for the task. He hoped he was, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, it's Sunday where I am (1am) so I'm going ahead and posting this.
> 
> I can't believe I actually wrote and posted this insanity.
> 
> With the end of this book in mind, I have a few things to say:
> 
> First off, thank you to everyone who has read this, I honestly wasn't expecting many people to bother reading this, so those of you who did are very much appreciated.
> 
> Secondly, Book Two will be posted next Sunday. I have chapters 1-4 written and hope to have chapters 5 & 6 written before next Sunday. Chapters 1-6 of book two are the entirety of Arc 1 (Strangers on the Road).
> 
> With Book two not being completed, I will be moving back to only posting on Sunday's again until I get far enough along to increase my updates to twice a week.
> 
> Once again thank you for reading, and I hoped you enjoyed the start of our boys' journey, they have a lot more ahead of them.


End file.
